Real Madrid have set Arsenal a June 15 deadline for a decision over Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The La Liga giants are among the clubs chasing the Gunners striker, who has just 13 months left on his contract in north London.
Aubameyang is not expected to sign a new deal at the Emirates, leaving Arsenal with a decision to make between cashing in now or allowing his contract to run down.
Real want to sign him but they won’t wait beyond the middle of next month to know whether or not the Gabon star will join them.
One option the Spaniards wanted to explore was a potential swap deal including Dani Ceballos.
Swaps will be favoured by plenty of clubs on the Continent this summer given the losses each of them have suffered due to the coronavirus crisis.
But sources close to Real say the club knows a swap deal wouldn’t be easy and there is an acceptance in Madrid that they will have to find the £40million-odd it will cost to land the player.
Ceballos, meanwhile, wants to return to Madrid for the 2020-21 campaign after spending the season at Arsenal.
But he will do so only if he receives assurances that he will play regularly in Zinedine Zidane’s team.
The midfielder had been linked with a move to Sevilla as part of Real’s bid to take Lucas Ocampos to the Bernabeu but Ceballos yesterday ruled that out as a possibility.
Real have put contract and transfer talks on hold for a month to give themselves more time to analyse the fallout from the issues caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
By then they will know whether or not the 2019-20 season will finish in Spain and they want a clear picture on Arsenal and Aubameyang’s plans then as well.
