Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang And His Crystal Boots On The Way To Newcastle?

A report from EuroSport.com is suggesting that representatives from Newcastle United met with Aubameyang's representatives during half time of the St. Etienne match today. In light of the Captain Colo speculation all day today, it's nice to have a little something encouraging to say ahead of tomorrow's match v. Norwich City.

A mid-January move of any sort would be quite atypical for Newcastle, but it just might belie a recognition of just how dire things are at this point in time. Every match and every point is vital at this point, so moving with purpose would at least give us some hope that some of the squad needs are going to be addressed. This still doesn't address the already existing need for a front-line CB as the squad stands now, let alone if we were to find ourselves even an additional CB short (which still seems unlikely... but a need is a need.

As I mentioned in this transfer "round up"

[At] 23 years old (instead of 26) with the same ability to play as a central striker or on either wing (4-3-3, anyone?), Aubameyang will likely be a much easier sell to Mike Ashley.

There is a certain amount of disagreement on exactly what the transfer fee would be for PEA (Pois, as I may end up calling him... get it?)... reports earlier in the week said £6.2m while I've seen suggestions that St. Etienne may want nearer to £12m. Transfermarkt.com has him valued at £8.8m - roughly halfway in between the two reports. Another outlay of this magnitude and on a player such as Aubameyang would be a positive step. If only we could be connected as quickly with a CB, it might just turn into a January to remember.

Here's the French version:

A l’occasion de la réception de Toulouse (2-2), Newcastle a posé les jalons d’un transfert de Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. A la mi-temps de la rencontre, dans les salons présidentiels de Geoffroy Guichard, le scout débauché par le club anglais s’est entretenu avec l’entourage de l’attaquant gabonais. De source proche de la direction du club, aucune offre n’a cependant été soumise ce vendredi.

--from mercato.eurosport.fr

and the good ol' Google Translate version (it seems maybe I should learn French):

On the occasion of the reception of Toulouse (2-2), Newcastle has paved the way for a transfer of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. At halftime of the game, in the salons presidential Geoffroy Guichard, scout debauched by the English club met with the entourage of the Gabon striker. A source close to the club's management, however, no offers submitted on Friday.

DId you see Robert's stat-based analysis of how worried we should be about the drop? Our take on ColocciniGate? Why not click around and join in the discussions?