Watkins penned a new five-year deal earlier this month and outlined two ambitions. He wants to become the club’s record Premier League goalscorer and win trophies with Villa.
Since Unai Emery’s arrival nearly 12 months ago, only Erling Haaland and Mo Salah have registered more Premier League goal contributions than Watkins. He has scored seven times in all competitions for Villa this season, bagging hat-tricks against Hibernian and Brighton.
Watkins was on the radar of a number of clubs last summer, including Manchester United, before they secured the signing of Rasmus Hojlund, while Arsenal were also credited with an interest. Brentford striker Toney is also admired by a number of teams and reports claim he could leave the Bees this January.
The 27-year-old has not played since May after pleading guilty to more than 260 FA betting breaches. He will be eligible for selection again on January 17, coinciding with the next transfer window.
Ex-Arsenal defender Silvestre believes a move for the one-cap England international represents an unnecessary risk. Instead, he thinks the Gunners should still move for Watkins.
"The team always needs healthy competition and it needs quality," Silvestre told GGRecon . "So if Arsenal were to sign another striker in the near future, then it would be [Ollie] Watkins over [Ivan] Toney if the decision was up to me."
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