Chelsea are reportedly keen to terminate the contract of forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
When Aubameyang arrived at Stamford Bridge in September, it had been hoped that the Gabon international would revive his career down the middle of the Blues attack.
However, Aubameyang only got to play one game under Thomas Tuchel, one of the reasons for his transfer from Barcelona, and he has subsequently drifted out of Graham Potter's plans.
Although the 33-year-old has still accumulated 10 starts and eight substitute outings for Chelsea, the majority of them came before the World Cup.
Aubameyang has not made a single start since November 6, his 123 minutes since the turn of the year being spread across five substitute appearances.
Just 16 minutes have been provided to the former Arsenal man since January 21, with Potter instead looking to use players signed in the latest transfer window.
When quizzed on the matter at a number of press conferences, Potter has insisted that Aubameyang remains in contention for selection and has praised the player's professionalism.
Nevertheless, according to Football Insider, Chelsea officials would prefer to terminate Aubameyang's contract, which runs until 2024, as soon as possible.
The report suggests that a mutual parting of the ways is likely to come at the end of the season rather than beforehand.
At one stage, Aubameyang was being linked with a move to a team in the MLS, whether that be on a loan or a free transfer, but that speculation soon dampened down.
Barcelona are said to be open to re-signing Aubameyang on a free transfer in the summer, although that will be dependent on £177m being raised through player sales and cutbacks.
With Aubameyang ineligible for Champions League fixtures, he effectively only has 11 Premier League fixtures where he could be named in the squad for the remainder of the season.
That said, he was not included in the group for the matches with Leicester City and Everton, and has missed out on five of the last seven domestic squads named by Potter. body check tags ::
