Berlin: Arsenal have reportedly had a first offer of 50 million euros ($61.1 million) for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang rejected by his German club Borussia Dortmund, according to Kicker magazine on Saturday.

Aubameyang, last season’s top scorer in the German league with 31 goals, has been dropped by Dortmund for the last two games amid speculation he is chasing a move to the Premier League club.

Dortmund will not accept less than 60 million euros for Gabon hot-shot Aubameyang, who is under contract with Borussia until 2021, reports say.

Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke confirmed to SID, an AFP subsidiary, that there has now been contact with Arsenal, but said reports of a possible fee are “speculation” and “the first contact has not been about money”.

Aubameyang was dropped for Dortmund’s draws with Wolfsburg last Sunday and at Hertha Berlin on Friday after failing to attend a team meeting.

His father, also his agent, was said to be in London to try to push through a transfer to Arsenal.

On Friday, while his club was drawing in Berlin, Aubameyang played a kick-about game indoors with his friends in Dortmund. German daily Bild reported that he wore a Dortmund shirt bearing the name of Ousmane Dembele, who transferred to Barcelona in August after going on strike to force the German club to sell him for 105 million euros.

Agence France-Presse