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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: Why he's sparking Chelsea, Arsenal bidding war

He's the goal-scoring machine that is tearing the Bundesliga apart, while earning admiring glances from the giants of European football.

Indeed, his club fear that the chart-topping predator will be tempted by a mega-bucks move to the Premier League next summer.

But, no, I'm not talking about Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski, but the man who is matching him stride-for-stride – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The Gabon superstar has, just like the much vaunted Lewandowski, 14 goals in the Bundesliga term, prompting serious interest from Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and La Liga's big boys.

His antics – including producing a Spiderman themed t-shirt after scoring in the Ruhr derby victory against Schalke - have made the Dortmund man a Social Media hit.

And it's not just fans who are increasingly following his every move.

It's a dramatic reinvention for a man whose career appeared to have stalled last term – having twice come close to the big time, it seemed likely that he would fall short.

He started his career at AC Milan, but never wore the Italian club's colours competitively – instead farmed out on loan to French clubs for three years.

After so-so spells at Dijon, Lille and Monaco, Milan cut their ties – his dreams of making it at the Serie A giants in tatters.

Instead, he had to rebuild his reputation at Saint-Etienne and, after a slow start, found his scoring boots – and a move to Germany in the offing.

Arriving at the Westfalenstadion in 2013, Aubameyang was joining a side that had just finished as Champions League runners up, where he'd be understudy to talisman Lewandowski.

When the Pole departed at the end of the campaign, Aubmeyang may have thought it was his chance to step up – instead, new signing Ciro Immobile was initially preferred.

With another striker, Adrian Ramos, also added to the squad, Aubameyang could be forgiven for thinking his time was up.

But, as BVB faltered, and their inspirational boss Jurgen Klopp announced his decision to walk away, their very own superhero stepped up – Aubameyang top-scoring as he lead Dortmund's recovery to seventh place.

This season, the confidence has shown, and the versatile forward has been deadly in front of goal, with 22 goals from 20 games in all competitions.

That makes him the continent's most deadly poacher, who has thrived – teaming up with a rejuvenated Shinji Kagawa and the effervescent Marco Reus, Aubameyang's very own Robin.

Interest in the charismatic striker has soared and Arsenal – who were linked with a £30million swoop during the summer – now have plenty of competition for his signature.

Manchester United would be an obvious suitor, while Diego Costa's dip in form will alert Jose Mourinho, too.

While Tottenham's impressive start to the season would be reinforced by an ambitious coup, and Barcelona seem certain to add a striker to their roster in January.

Strap yourselves in for a bidding war.

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Lee Price
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Lee Price

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