Newcastle United are increasing their interest in Gabon international Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but will face competition from Arsenal and Chelsea to sign him.

The Daily Mail reported that club owner Mike Ashley took matters into his own hands and went to watch the player in his game against mega-rich Paris Saint-Germain.

Wanted man

Ashley was joined by chief scout Graham Carr, as they consider a move for a striker who is also rumoured to be attracting interest from clubs such as Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and PSG.

The club made a move for him in the January transfer window – but the swoop failed after he made it clear that he wanted to stay in France for the remainder of the season.

The 21-year-old is thought to be valued at around £10m, and has been in good form this season – scoring 16 league goals.

In-depth knowledge

The Magpies have an extensive knowledge of the French market, and have already raided it for players such as Mathieu Debuchy, Massadio Haidara, Yohan Cabaye and Moussa Sissoko.

Meanwhile, Newcastle have been left short in defence after both Debuchy and Haidara picked up injuries in their 2-1 loss against Wigan Athletic.

United have been lacking fire-power up front since the departure of Demba Ba, and have been forced to use 18-year-old academy graduate Adam Campbell, who we recently featured in our ‘One for the Future’ series, in the wins over Stoke City and Anzhi Makhachkala