Barcelona to sign Aubameyang on free transfer

Barcelona have agreed a permanent deal to sign Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on a free transfer

Arsenal were willing to allow Aubameyang - who reputedly earned £350,000 a week - to leave after stripping him of the captaincy in December following an unspecified disciplinary issue.

Arsenal are estimated to be making a saving of around £25m in wages with Aubameyang's departure. But his exit means Mikel Arteta's squad will finish the season with just two recognised strikers at the club, with both Eddie Nketiah and Alex Lacazette out of contract in the summer.

Aubameyang has not played for the club since December 6, and was left out of their squad for their warm-weather training camp in Dubai.

The 32-year-old's move to Spain had looked off earlier on Deadline Day after talks broke down over the financial part of the deal.

But it's understood that Aubameyang, who flew out to Barcelona on Monday morning, took a significant pay cut to facilitate the move.

Sky Sports' Adam Bate:

The drop in performance levels has been so great that it is probably worth reminding people that Aubameyang was a world-class striker for much of his time at Arsenal.

Indeed, from the day of his debut for the club in February 2018 until the day of his double against Everton in February 2020, no player scored more Premier League goals. He scored 49 times in that period, the same as Mohamed Salah and a dozen more than Harry Kane.

There was a notable highlight after that when he scored twice in Arsenal's FA Cup final win over Chelsea in the summer of 2020. But almost as soon as his new contract was signed that September, there has been a sense of decline, of a player whose best days are behind him.

Stripped of the captaincy, too often the