Manchester United spent years watching Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - then 'snubbed buying him' because he couldn’t hold the ball up and went for £75m Romelu Lukaku instead
* The Gabon international has scored 49 goals in 77 appearances for Arsenal
* But the north London club were not the only club that had followed the striker
* Manchester United scouted Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang between 2016-2017
* They opted not to buy him and striker has gone on to become key for Gunners
Manchester United scouted Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for years before deciding against signing him.
The Gabon international has scored 49 goals in 77 games for the Gunners since joining from Borussia Dortmund in January 2018.
But the north London club were not the only club that had followed the striker.
According to The Athletic, United scouted Aubameyang between 2016 and 2017 where he netted 73 times in 91 games for Dortmund.
But the United hierarchy were not convinced and had concerns over the valuation of around £70million and his age (he turned 30 in June).
They also believed would not fit Jose Mourinho's striker profile of someone that could press and hold the ball up.
Manchester United scouted Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for years whilst he was in Germany. Manchester United were after a centre forward and opted to spend £75m on Romelu Lukaku
They made this judgement having watched Aubameyang at many Bundesliga and Champions League games.
At the time, United's top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic suffered a serious knee injury in April 2017.
They were after a centre forward and opted to spend £75m on Romelu Lukaku as opposed to Aubameyang.
Arsenal ended up signing Aubameyang from the Bundesliga outfit for £56m, where he has since gone on to become arguably their most important player.
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-7622933/Manchester-United-spent-years-watching-Pierre-Emerick-Aubameyang-snubbed-buying-him.html