Watzke denies agreement to discuss Aubameyang transfer with Madrid

Borussia Dortmund have not agreed to discuss the transfer of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Real Madrid, club chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has said.

A report in Marca on Thursday claimed that Madrid had reached an agreement with the Bundesliga club whereby they would be kept informed if there was a legitimate prospect of Aubameyang, Julian Weigl or Ousmane Dembele being sold.

It has been rumoured that Dortmund would themselves been keen to take Casemiro and James Rodriguez to Signal Iduna Park should any such deal be agreeable to Madrid president Florentino Perez.

But while Watzke admits that he dined with Perez and spent time with him at the Santiago Bernabeu during Wednesday’s 2-2 Champions League draw, he insists they did not discuss the possible transfer of any player.

“It’s right that I had lunch with Florentino Perez and we sat next to each other in the stadium,” he told Bild. “But we did not spend one second talking about players of Borussia Dortmund. There’s no agreement.”

Aubameyang has long been linked with Madrid, with the Gabon star admitting that he once promised his grandfather he would play for the club.

Weigl and Dembele, who joined from Rennes this year, have established themselves as two of the brightest prospects in European football in the past 18 months.