TBR Football revealed that Arsenal are readying a second bid for Watkins, with Aston Villa rejecting the Gunners’ initial £60 million proposal to sign the 29-year-old.
Arsenal’s bid to sign Watkins angered Aston Villa, who have no interest in selling him as Jhon Duran has joined Al-Nassr already — leaving them with just one reliable striker on their books.
Regardless of whether Ollie Watkins winds up at the Emirates Stadium, how the move would fare could split opinion.
The reason why that could be the case is because many would debate whether the Englishman has the attributes to lead Arsenal to a Premier League or a Champions League trophy.
Team MP W D L GD Pts
2 Arsenal 23 13 8 2 23 47
Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa is challenged by Leandro Trossard of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Aston Villa FC at ...
Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Peter Crouch thinks Ollie Watkins would be “perfect” for Arsenal
Declan Rice is a huge admirer of Watkins and so will his other teammates be due to the latter’s brilliant record against them — scoring six goals against the North Londoners in 10 league appearances.
But for any player, making the step-up to a title-challenging side is a difficult test and one that the £28 million (The Athletic) must be ready for if he were to sign for Arsenal. But Peter Crouch reckons Watkins, who Unai Emery wishes to keep would be the perfect number nine in Mikel Arteta’s side.
Team MP W D L GD Pts
8 Aston Villa 24 10 7 7 -3 37
Crouch told TNT Sports: “I totally get why they’ve made the enquiries, I think he’d be perfect for Arsenal. He’s a readymade kind of Premier League goalscorer, I think in that setup, he’d be absolutely perfect for them. But Aston Villa are not going to want to lose two players of that calibre in the same position [Duran and Watkins] in one window. That’d be absolutely suicidal for them to do that.”
“But I get the opportunity from Arsenal and obviously Ollie Watkins has mentioned before that’s he an Arsenal fan and difficult one for them to turn down.”
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Watkins, who has suffered a muscular injury certainly has an eye for goal while also being able to run the channels and run beyond defences — traits that make him a complete centre-forward. No wonder Watkins is valued at £80 million by Aston Villa as he is one the Premier League’s best strikers.
Crook said: “I think Ollie Watkins will stay, but then you ask the question, do they go back in the summer?”
“He’s 29 years old, and it will take a bid in excess of £60 million to sign him and other options will be at the table in the summer.”
“Benjamin Sesko, we know Mikel Arteta is a huge fan of him. He might well be open to the move from RB Leipzig and come the summer, if Arsenal can get someone younger than Ollie Watkins, I think that’s the route they will go down.”
With tough fixtures against Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United to come for this Arsenal side, it looks increasingly likely that they will lack a new striker to help them tackle such games.
Sunday 2nd February
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