The Gunners have been looking for a new centre-forward for several weeks now. Reinforcements in attack have been necessary for a long time, and it has become all the more important now following Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka’s injuries.
Arsenal tabled a bid for Watkins recently but Aston Villa rejected that offer. Unai Emery’s side were not interested in selling their main striker.
What Unai Emery has told Aston Villa’s board about Ollie Watkins after Arsenal’s offer
Watkins has been Aston Villa’s main man for a few years now.
The Englishman directly contributed to 40 goals in all competitions in the 2023/24 season, and he is halfway there this campaign as well.
Watkins is up there with the best strikers in the Premier League right now, and Arsenal are not wrong to target a move to sign him.
However, Arsenal’s first bid for Watkins made Aston Villa furious. They were not happy at all as the news came out just hours before their Champions League game.
The Gunners are readying a second bid for the talented England international, but their old boss, Emery, is set to ruin their dreams of signing him.
Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Emery has privately told Aston Villa’s board that he wants Watkins to stay in this window.
The journalist said in a video on his YouTube channel: “Arsenal are looking for an offensive player. They want Ollie Watkins. First bid rejected but at the moment, Aston Villa insist that they want to keep the player.
“Unai Emery told the board that he absolutely wants Ollie Watkins to stay.
“So, either Arsenal will do something very big, I would say almost crazy, to reach an agreement for Ollie Watkins, otherwise they will look at other targets. And Mathys Tel could be very interesting.”
The mistake Arsenal made during Ollie Watkins pursuit that could now cost them
Watkins is a tremendous player and he would definitely improve Arsenal.
However, the Gunners’ chances of signing him now are very small because Mikel Arteta, Jason Ayto and team were just too slow.
Villa have agreed to sell Jhon Duran to Al Nassr. That means it is extremely unlikely that they will allow their other striker to leave in the same window.
Arsenal would’ve probably had a better chance of signing Watkins if they made their move at the start of January. Their decision to delay the move could now cost them.
It will be interesting to see who the Gunners will go for if Villa completely rule out a move for Watkins now.
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