Chelsea Transfer News: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Rumours Grow Despite £42m Fee

Chelsea are willing to pay the mammoth £42 million sum it would take to sign Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang this winter, according to the latest reports.

Blues boss Jose Mourinho is under pressure to enact some form of change at Stamford Bridge in January, and Spanish outlet Fichajes reported the west Londoners are ready to fork out big to land Aubameyang (h/t Daily Star's Marc Williams).

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

Striker Diego Costa scored Chelsea's only goal in Saturday's 1-0 win over Norwich City, bringing an end to the club's three-match losing streak in the Premier League and moving them up to 15th in the table.

But the Spain international has been far from the heights reached last season, and Chelsea will have to battle against Arsenal if they're to sign in-form Aubameyang, according to German newspaper Bild (via Sport Witness):

Loic Remy and Radamel Falcao sit as back-ups to Costa in the striking department, but the pair have managed just two league starts between them this term and a collective one goal, courtesy of the Colombian.

Despite seeing this season's title-defending squad fail to perform as expected thus far, Mourinho recently insisted no drastic alterations are needed in the January transfer window, per the Daily Mail's Neil Ashton:

"

I will not ask for any changes. I will not ask the board in January. I'm happy with the players. I trust the players. I don't need to clean the dressing room, as I heard was written somewhere. And I don't need to ask the club to spend money in January.

We put ourselves in a great situation together by being champions. We put ourselves together in this situation in the Premier League. We have to be together, again, to put it right.

"

Borussia Dortmund are no strangers when it comes to fending off the attention of Europe's powerhouses in their rising talents, with Robert Lewandowski and Mario Gotze both jumping ship to Bayern Munich in recent years.

Aubameyang is certainly reaching those same levels of attention after managing 23 goals in 21 appearances so far this season, and Squawka Dave has pointed him out as Germany's most prolific asset this year:

The alleged £42 million price tag being placed upon the Gabon international may not be considered outside the Blues' means, but it's likely room would have to be made for the forward before he could be added to the squad.

It's possible that space could be freed up with the early termination of Falcao's loan deal at Stamford Bridge, according to ESPN FC's Peter O'Rourke.

Player	Goals	Games	Avg. Goals per Game
Diego Costa	4	16	0.25
Loic Remy	2	9	0.22
Radamel Falcao	1	11	0.09

Many supporters of the west London giants might welcome such an exchange with open arms, but it would leave some debate as to how Costa could react to being dropped from his starting berth so suddenly.

The winter market is never an easy time in which to do business, however, and although Chelsea are willing to splash the cash on Aubameyang, one must question how eager the Dortmund hitman would be to complete the switch.