Ollie Watkins broke Gabby Agbonlahor's Aston Villa goal-scoring record in the win over Bournemouth at the weekend - just a few months after Arsenal tried to sign him
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Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa
Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa (Image: Getty Images)
Martin Keown believes Ollie Watkins would have been a useful player to help Arsenal’s bid to mount a meaningful challenge to be Premier League champions this season – but does not see the Aston Villa man as a long-term target for Mikel Arteta.
Watkins is now Villa’s leading Premier League goalscorer of all time after his winner at Bournemouth took him in front of Gabby Agbonlahor and cemented his place in the record books.
However, just a few months ago it could have all worked out differently had Villa opted to retain Jhon Duran and instead sell Watkins to the Gunners who were looking for a centre forward at the time.
Much has changed since then, Arsenal had tried to paper over the cracks with make-shift attackers, while Watkins has seen his game-time limited by the arrival of Marcus Rashford. What has not changed, though, has been the fact that when he plays, he tends to score. Even in a season in which he has been forced to share game-time he has still scored 17 goals.
However, with uncertainty over Rashford’s future, there is also speculation that Arsenal might rekindle their interest in a player who will be 30 in December.
Asked if the next two matches might be Watkins’ final acts in a Villa shirt Keown told talkSPORT: “I sincerely hope not. It's interesting isn't it? How he was quite angry at the PSG game, he only played 20 minutes combined over those two ties, and I felt he probably should have got longer.
“Rashford coming in, it's kind of like a desire to lift the bar, to keep pushing. You get better players in, but I thought he was unlucky to find himself out of the team.
“There he was again getting another really important goal for Aston Villa, who could very well end up in the Champions League next season and look how well they acquitted themselves this season.”
However, Keown does not see Watkins going to the Emirates this summer: “I think he'd have been a very useful striker for the remainder of the season, yes. Long term, no, he's getting on a little bit you could say, and they might want a little bit more pace.”
The former Villa and Arsenal defender suggested Watkins could be the kind of player that takes a team to a Premier League title. “I think he's very close to it now. If you look at Villa, Villa have been quite magnificent.
"I expect them to get into the Champions League because they've got Spurs and Manchester United to go. I'm not laughing but are they gonna turn up? He'll be seeing that as goals, wouldn't he?”
Fellow pundit Simon Jordan applauded Watkins’ achievement of breaking Agbonlahor’s record. “He's a good player. I don't think he's a world class player. I think he's a good player, and I think he's been good for Aston Villa and Aston Villa have been very good for him.
“It was a nice step up from him from Brentford, everyone did well out of the deal in terms of Brentford got a decent fee for him.
“He's a better player now though because he's played Premier League. I don't know what his goal to game ratio is, but ultimately he's achieved a meaningful status for Aston Villa to be able to be the greatest Premier League goalscorer.
“Does he take Arsenal somewhere that they've not been, i.e., gives them an outcome that we are constantly saying they haven't had. I don't think he does.”
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