Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s exploits for St. Etienne have seen him become one of the most highly-rated forwards in Ligue 1, and has scored 17 goals in 32 appearances in all competitions for the club. He is currently the second top scorer in the country with 16 goals, sitting only behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic who has 25.

The 23-year-old was expected to break through in Serie A when he joined the AC Milan youth team in 2007. He was subsequently loaned out to a number of clubs to gain some first team experience, but Milan opted against calling him back, eventually selling him to St. Etienne permanently.

Milan did not expect him to take the Serie A by storm and hence disposed of him. However, his stock has risen considerably in the French league and it seems the Gabon international is finally ready to blossom into the player Milan hoped for when they signed him in 2007.

The prolific forward has attracted interest from the Premier League, with Arsenal seen as favourites for him. There is also interest from Newcastle and Chelsea, who are both closely monitoring the player.

Wenger is known to procure young talent from his native country and wants to bolster his attacking options with a bid for the 23-year-old. He is expected to use the funds from the sale of Gervinho to try and convince St. Etienne to sell.

However, Pardew has acquired a lot of talent from the French league in January with desirable results and has earmarked a move for the Gabon hitman to replace Demba Ba. Chelsea, too, are in the market for a striker and Aubameyang would be a bargain.

According to talkSPORT, the forward has revealed that a bid of £10 million will be enough to secure his services. He said, “If people are talking about me then I am not aware of it. But if someone offers €12million to the club I do not know if I’ll go or not. I am calm because I still have two years on my contract to go.”

However, the striker has also revealed in recent weeks that he would like to play alongside Ibrahimovic at PSG. Arsenal would have to fend off any interest from moneybags PSG, as well as Newcastle and Chelsea, in order to land their man.