Unai Emery and Ollie WatkinsUnai Emery and Ollie Watkins
Unai Emery and Ollie Watkins | AFP via Getty Images
Aston Villa have a significant few months ahead of them as they prepare for next season
Aston Villa will hope that they are able to keep hold of their prized assets over the next couple of months. They may be vulnerable to losing key players now after they missed out on the Champions League. However, they won’t want to let anyone leave on the cheap.
Unai Emery also has the chance to bring in some new signings in the window. The Midlands outfit could do with adding some more depth to their squad. They are due to return for pre-season later this summer.
Aston Villa update regarding Ollie Watkins links to Arsenal latest
Arsenal insider Charles Watts believes Arsenal will only move for Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins if they can’t sign their top targets in his position. The Gunners are in the hunt for a new forward. They have been heavily linked with the likes of Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres.
In this latest update regarding Watkins’ links with a switch to the Emirates Stadium, reporter Watts has delivered his verdict in a CaughtOffside report: “It’s only been a few months since Arsenal made an offer for Ollie Watkins, so it’s impossible to sit here and rule out the prospect of them going back in for the Aston Villa striker. Mikel Arteta remains an admirer of the forward, but the only way I can see something happening with him this summer is if something pretty dramatic happens with both Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres.
“Those two are clearly the priorities when it comes to the new striker and I would view Watkins as an option only if neither of those primary targets were to arrive.”
He added: “I think the possibility of Watkins moving to Arsenal would depend a lot on what sort of price Aston Villa would be looking for to do business. In January they valued him at around £60 million and that was way above the £40m that the Arsenal hierarchy were willing to pay. Given Watkins will turn 30 at the end of the year that valuation from Villa would have to reduce massively for Arsenal to consider doping anything for the striker.”
Will Ollie Watkins stay at Aston Villa?
Aston Villa will hope that Arsenal can sign someone like Sesko or Gyokeres to cool their chances of moving for Watkins. As Watts alluded to, the Gunners have other priorities first and foremost. They finished 2nd in the table last term behind Liverpool and will be aiming for the title again next time around.
Watkins, 29, is a key player up top for Villa and they will be desperate to keep hold of him. He joined them back in 2020 and has since become one of their most prized assets. The former Exeter City man has scored 87 goals in 223 games in all competitions, 17 of which came last season.
The England international is a proven goal scorer at the top level and they are hard to come by. If he stayed, Villa’s hopes of getting into the Champions League again would be boosted. He is under contract at Villa Park until 2028.
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