Chelsea transfer targets De Jong and Aubameyang to hold crunch talks with Barcelona as double exit nears

CHELSEA targets Frenkie de Jong and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are in crunch talks with Barcelona to sort out their futures.

De Jong’s agents jetted into Barcelona on Wednesday to talk to the club, with both parties in a financial stand-off.

Auba, who only signed from Arsenal in January, has also instructed his  advisers to speak to the LaLiga giants to decide on his next move.

Chelsea are now in a race with Manchester United for Dutch midfielder De Jong, who was verbally abused by a number of Barca fans as he arrived at the club’s HQ for training.

Reports from Spain claimed the supporters insulted him with the taunt, “Lower your salary, b****!”

Barcelona need to sell more players to balance the books and allow their summer signings to be registered ahead of their first game against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.

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Manchester United agreed a £72million fee to sign De Jong last month but he is owed £17m in deferred wages and will not agree to leave until he is paid.

Barcelona would prefer him to stay but only if he agrees to take a significant pay cut and accept a £6m settlement for his deferred wages.

The club  even alleged there had been criminality in the terms agreed in the contract  made by the previous board.

That sparked a furious response from the Dutch players’ union, who said De Jong might be the  target of extortion.

Chelsea are willing to match United’s agreed £72m bid for De Jong, while their interest in Aubameyang is a shock.

The Gabon striker, who has three years left on his contract, had a string of disciplinary issues with Arsenal but Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel worked with him at Dortmund.

The Blues are already confident of signing Leicester’s Wesley Fofana and have been quoted £12m for Inter Milan’s teenage star Cesare Casadei — even though he has yet to play for the first team.

Chelsea have already spent a massive £178m this summer under new owner Todd Boehly.

The club’s American backers have invested in Raheem Sterling from Man City  for £50m, Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli for £34m, and Marc Cucurella from Brighton for £62m.

The club have also recruited Carney Chukwuemeka from Aston Villa for £20m and Gabriel Slonina from Chicago Fire for £12m.

Meanwhile, Timo Werner claims he “had a good time” at Chelsea despite failing to hit his best form.

The German striker, 26, yesterday completed his £20m return to RB Leipzig — two years after he arrived for £48m.

Werner was slammed by fans after scoring  just 23 goals in 89 games.

Yet he said: “I had a good time in England — I learnt a lot and got to know a new league. But I’m really pleased to be back.”