El Confidencial carry an interesting claim buried in an article regarding Real Madrid’s interest in Robert Lewandowski and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, in which they allege that Arsenal bid €60m (£51.8m) for Dortmund ace in January 2016.

What’s the story?

Although El Confidencial’s piece talks mainly about Real’s striker plans, Arsenal’s pursuit of Aubameyang is brought to light around halfway through.

Although the Spanish outlet are reporting on interest from an English team in a striker of African descent playing in German football, Los Blancos’ own agenda in relation to the Gabonese ace suggests they may have got their hands on some concrete information. It’s claimed Arsene Wenger approached the Bundesliga side with a club-record £51.8m offer, but Dortmund rejected the approach and made it clear that only €100m (£86.3m) would be enough.

Can we believe it?

A tricky question, this. The lack of concrete links between Arsenal and ‘Auba’ over the summer suggests their interest may not be as strong as speculated, but then again it’s entirely possible that BVB’s demands curtailed the notoriously cautious Wenger. The Gunners’ pursuit of Alexandre Lacazette does hint that Aubameyang was wanted, with the Frenchman not dissimilar in his style of play to the 27-year-old.

Should they revive their interest?

As the stats (via Squawka) show, Aubameyang has made a better start to the 2016/17 league season than any of Arsenal’s centre-forward options. There are the obvious factors such as game time, opponents and systems, but the facts remain that in fewer minutes, ‘Auba’ has scored more goals than Wenger’s top scorer Alexis Sanchez. Add to this his haul of 39 in 49 games last season and it’s hard to argue that he wouldn’t dramatically improve Arsenal’s XI.

Can they get him?

In terms of financial muscle, probably. In terms of Wenger’s willingness to spend, probably not. There is also the fact that Aubameyang has revealed playing for Real Madrid is in his “heart”. So, you know…