Newcastle United want to take Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on loan for the rest of the season.
The striker has not played for Arsenal since being stripped of the captaincy over disciplinary breaches, and was subsequently made to train alone at the club.
He has now been allowed to leave early for the African Cup of Nations, flying out to Dubai to join a training camp for the Gabon national team.
Relegation threatened Newcastle lost main striker Callum Wilson to a serious injury in the match with Manchester United, and may miss the rest of the season. Winger Allan Saint Maximum also picked up a knock in that match, and, without the pair of them, Eddie Howe’s men are seriously short of firepower.
Now with the future of Aubameyang in North London clouded in doubt, he could be headed to the North East on an initial loan, with an option to buy in the summer.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.