Chelsea finally confirm Aubameyang and Zakaria deals after window closes

Chelsea rounded off a whirlwind transfer window with the €12m signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona, reuniting the striker with Thomas Tuchel, under whom he had thrived at Borussia Dortmund.

Chelsea also strengthened in midfield with the season-long loan capture of Denis Zakaria from Juventus but announced in the early hours of Friday morning that defender Marcos Alonso had left the club by mutual consent. The Spaniard is expected to be announced as a Barcelona player on Friday after six years with Chelsea.

The Aubameyang deal takes the London club’s outlay on incoming fees under the new co-owner Todd Boehly to more than £250m.

“It’s an honour to be part of this team and I can’t wait to start,” Aubameyang said. “I have some unfinished business with the Premier League so it’s good to be back and really exciting.”

It has been a frenetic summer with Boehly, acting as the sporting director, casting the net far and wide in an attempt to make his mark after taking over from Roman Abramovich and reshape the squad for Tuchel – especially after the departures on free transfers of Antonio Rüdiger and Andreas Christensen. The centre-halves moved to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively after Chelsea could not offer them new contracts while Abramovich was under UK government sanctions.

Chelsea have spent heavily on central defensive reinforcements, taking Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli for £33.8m and Wesley Fofana from Leicester for £75m. A late bid for RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol, worth £77.5m, was rejected, with the Croatia international extending his contract on Thursday until 2027. “Retweet and let everyone know: Josko Gvardiol is staying,” Leipzig announced. Chelsea could try again for him.

Aubameyang is back in