Arsenal have reportedly had an audacious bid for Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins rejected, but a second offer is expected to be lodged before the transfer window closes on Monday.
The 29-year-old England international, a boyhood Arsenal fan, has three years remaining on his current contract, giving Villa leverage in any negotiations.
Adding to that, Fabrizio Romano reports that Villa are unimpressed with the timing of the approach given it comes just hours before their crunch Champions League showdown with Celtic.
After losing Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus to long-term injuries, Mikel Arteta has made it clear that his squad needs attacking reinforcements to compete with Liverpool for the title.
With Benjamin Sesko and Alexander Isak out of reach this month, credible links to other targets have been scarce.
It makes an attempt to recruit a big name from a Premier League rival all the more surprising. Time will tell whether interim Sporting Director Jason Ayto can pull off a late deal that is likely to cost more than £60 million.
Meanwhile, Villa striker Jhon Duran has attracted interest from Saudi Arabia. Given the potential departure of Duran, it remains to be seen if Villa will sanction Watkins’ sale.
Gyokeres
If Sporting had lost today, they’d be out of the CL and might have been more inclined to sell. As it stands the only real “result” from today is that Leipzig’s European season is officially done.
Would they please pick up the phone and just be reasonable about selling us their promising young striker. Please. Thanks.
Unsure if Duran will leave since Al Nassr have agreed personal terms with Leverkusen’s Boniface.
Unsure if £60M isn’t a bit overpriced but that’s not my money. If Mikel approves then so do I
So I’m not sure – with the new format of the Champion’s League, would Ollie be ineligible and cup-tied? Does anyone know if that changed with the format?
I’m guessing it’ll reset after the 1st round. It usually does, right?
No cup tied players in the champions league
He could play if he signs
Sign da ting oli.
Boniface, aka Skeletor?
No, Boniface was in Trap Door
Skeletor did have a boney face though
He’s a good player with proven Premier League experience. Yes, he’s overpriced, but with no obvious target, in January and with everyone knowing we need to sign someone, any attacking player is going to be overpriced and we need to sign someone
yes but at least pay little bit more for younger then
At least we are paying for a completely known quantity. This is about as much of a sure thing as you are likely to find.
Init. Sign da ting oli
Oli wanna sign da ting, Unai naganna lettim, init?
Hmmm. Not sure about this one. I suppose if we’re going all out to win it this season it would make sense and probably worth the outlay. If we paid out and didn’t win anything this season, it is a bit questionable. That said, he could easily score a lot of goals for several years, so if we ignore his age it would be a good signing 🤷♂️
Yeah, I agree. Given the price and his age I’m not feeling very enthusiastic about this one. It feels very much like a stop gap signing, the kind of which given could be a millstone around our necks in a couple of years. If a centre forward signing like this with this kind of outlay is an inhibitor to signing someone like Sesko in the summer I would rather we didn’t.
If you are in the camp of let’s try to win something now, then it’s hard to argue against signing Ollie Watkins.
100%
He’s a killer.
We need a killer
I’d pay pepe money for him
You pay-pay Pepe money for Watkins. Fair enough.
60m on a 29 year old striker is stupid.
I agree, but I guess when it comes to goals there is still value in sunk cost. It is unlikely that we would make any money back, but prize money can more than mitigate that. I’m pretty sure the season that city won the quadruple they made £300m in prize money. Bayern bought a 29 year old striker for €100m and he has scored 53 goals in 49 games. He replaced a striker who is now 36 and top scorer in la Liga. If we take age out of it it could be the signing we need right now and… Read more »
Neither Kane or Lewandowski ever really relied on pace though.
Not if he helps you win trophies in the next three years
Totally agree, he knows the league, he’s a Gooner and would give it everything for the next few years and it doesn’t stop us signing Sesko in the summer either, it’s also a good deal for Villa regardless of their PR grumbling given his age.
Might not stop us from signing Sesko, but it would take away any chance of signing a left back
😶
It’s only stupid if you think you’ll get better value elsewhere. It’s plain that we won’t until the summer at the earliest. This player makes us better RIGHT NOW. What happened to caring about this season?
As per, I’m with you Doc
You could pay 75 million for a 23 year old not proven in the premier league, who doesn’t work out and leaves for free at the end of an 4 year contract. I would prefer to pay the 60 and know exactly what your getting.
We haven’t done that before, have we? Nicolas Pepe!
It’ll take more than 60m, which is really stupid.
Vardy for a slightly overinflated price. 1-2 year deal. Havertz backup off the bench. Offers something different. Can still score goals at this level. Might teach one or two youngsters a thing or two. Doesn’t damage summer funds/plans. Gives him one last crack at the big time. Bonkers? Yes.
Bonkers? Certifiable!
We have all been saying we need to sign a forward in January or we have no chance of winning. That forward needs to be good enough to make a difference. He also needs to know how to play in the premier league already, or he will make no difference this season. You can say the signing is stupid, but not signing anyone would be even more stupid. What we need costs a lot money.
Rather wish we’d signed a 29 year old Lewandowski for that money.
I mean surely we’ve had some encouragement from the player or the club because it feels a bit odd to just bid for him out of the blue at this stage of the window.
That was my first thought…. second being ‘desperation mode’….. third being a smoke screen
Seems a bit desperate and out of character to blow that on a 29 yr old with much reduced sell on fee
Is it a smokescreen? Hope so while we get Tel on loan.
Keep powder dry for Sesko pls
One could argue that we are pretty desperate.
I wouldn’t
We are one havertz injury away from Raheem Stirling being a starter…..
Sesko isn’t it for me.
All that money on potential? Giving me Hojlund/Mudryk vibes.
Agree, Sesko hits one every now and again, but you watch any games and he is actually shit at football
How many games have you watched?
Moaning, Myrtle?
Tel is the smokescreen. Come on. You’d rather pin your hopes on an 18 yo who has barely played senior football? No way.
Please don’t do this
I’m a little bit worried about what has sparked this flurry of striker rumours 10 minutes before the deadline. Optimistically I’m thinking it means we’ve managed to shift somebody, maybe Zinchenko, but I’m very worried there’s going to be a name missing front tonight’s team sheet
Top striker that we need! He is a player that have plenty of years left. Dont Care how much we pay. We just need a good striker!!
He seems to score against us every time we play Villa, why wouldn’t we try and sign him
A good player but way too old
Tel on loan looks better value
Please tell me your joking. You want a 19yo who hasn’t scored a goal in the bundesliGa over a proven premier league centre forward. We bought ian wright at 28 for gods sake, United bought van persie at 29, Bayern bought Kane at 30. This is what big clubs do, they buy young and proven
Proven yes i agreed. But can enlighten me how is 28,29, 30 young?
The 19 year old is young. The 29 year old is proven. Simples
29 is hardly over the hill. It’s a risk no doubt but if he scores 25 goals a season for the next 3 years for us it would be worth it.
Has he ever got close to 25 goals a season?
19 goals 13 assists in league last season. 10 and 5 so far this season.
I’m surprised by the negative reaction to this in the comments. He’s a very good player and gives us something different in the central role. Sometimes you need to buy senior players to compliment what you have. Don’t forget the inured players are senior figures at the club. You can’t get away with pumping 19-21 yr olds into the first team like its football manager.
Not for £60m plus mate
Paid 33m for a 28yo backup/squad player in Merino – given Ollie is PL proven, Striker, and 29yo – I think 60m is a fair price selling into the same league. Would not block any pathways for us to make move for a Sesko type in the summer.
That’s double? Striker needs speed that goes as they get older
Makes no sense to me
The only striker I couldn’t get excited about
Mo Salah is 32 and leads PL scoring charts with 19 goals so far…
Did you say the same about Auba at the time?
It is fair, but Villa are not selling Watkins if Duran Dhuran goes to Saudi
Nah. 60 mil for a 29 year old. Dude signed a new long term contract just 1.5 years ago. Crazy money. Maybe a smoke screen to pressure sesko, but noone except varca and saudi will pay big big $ for players above 28. Or bayern for kane.
honestly a strange one. cost and age profile doesn’t make any sense. surely its better to spend little more than that on someone like sesko or gyokeres
Decent player but weird to making this move now. Seems like all our other preferred options have failed perhaps, which would be worrying. Or maybe it’s a part of a play.
I think durhan might be the better option of the 2. Durhan only 21? I think he could be a great player for the future. Might cost too much though
Would be a great signing but I doubt it will happen for anything less than 80m. Probably even more
I hate this
Didn’t know he was 29. I really like him, but the age is a big factor for a big fee.
Is 60 mil really still considered a “big” fee? I think it’s pretty much average now. I don’t think that is a factor in this one.
Nice try, Mr Arteta , but I’m not fooled. No chance that Villa are going to sell Watkins in this window. And you know it. This is all for show.
I suppose at least you “tried”.
I’m hoping this is a clever smokescreen as we go for someone else and not some desperate decision because we don’t have an Edu replacement
I’d rather stick until summer than spunk our budget on a 29 year old.
I may be wrong but I think this is BS
Looks like you’re right as Duran seems to be leaving. I suppose there’s a chance that details of the Duran bid emerge and we make a bid for Watkins to give them a decision to make – maybe they’ve decided the offer for Duran is preferable.. All feels a bit unusual
I actually wanted us to go in for him before we went for Jesus. But surprised this is happening now, not at the beginning of the window. Not as if Watkins is an unknown quantity.
It could be we tried other options and this is a last resort.
At that time it would have made sense
I’m all for it. Always wondered if he might end up here. Consistent goal scorer throughout his career. Quick, versatile, hard working. Exemplary attitude. Premier League proven. It’s his dream to play for Arsenal so he’ll be hugely motivated. Came to top level football quite late so wasn’t overplayed in his youth. Those saying 29 is too old, there’s a 32 year old in the PL currently having his best ever goalscoring season. We desperately need someone NOW. Isak is a pipe dream. Sesko won’t move until the summer. If not Watkins, who is there? Cunha? Like the player but… Read more »
Hard to argue with that logic
Do we desperately need someone NOW? The league is gone and we’re out of the cups. A big signing for three years of an aging striker on the chance that you can pull off a Champions League doesn’t seem like Arsenal’s kind of play. What we need to concentrate on is enough cover to stay comfortably in the top 4 (or 5). That is our mission now, in order to preserve our viability in upcoming seasons. We need some players who can settle immediately, eat minutes, grab a goal here and there, give the boys some rest around CL games.… Read more »
Respectfully, I think Mikel and his colleagues know what their mission is and are doing their best to fulfill it.
Feels like we do need someone now. I wouldn’t be surprised if Saka was out through March. That’s a lot of matches in league. If we were to lose Havertz, we’d be really short in attack, and frankly I’d worry about staying in the CL spots
I just saw Elneny at the bus stop, should i go get him
Haha – what a man Mo is. He’s welcome whenever he wants
Was Podolski with him?
He was at the taxi stand
This doesn’t really tally with Arsenal’s policy of signing younger players. Ollie Watkins has also not regularly scored a lot of goals either. If this is the only option, I’d rather wait until the summer and take someone on loan for now.
Trossard was 28 when we signed him. Ditto Merino. And Sterling taken on loan at 30.
Jorginho, Partey as well. If reports are true, we’re getting younger in the summer anyway – replacing Partey and Jorginho with Zubimendi, and possibly Trossard with a younger wide player. Calafiori is 5 years younger than Zinchenko. MLS and Nwaneri have given the management genuine low-cost options in critical positions. We do not have a shortage of youth.
Above all, it’s been a record year for revenue. There is money to spend. It’s a gamble but it’s a gamble on the right thing – the current team. They are so close and trying unbelievably hard.
Brilliantly put. Couldn’t agree more
Sterling and Merino are shite
I just had a look at the league top scorers charts to see where Watkins was and according to this he has the same goal conversion rate as Havertz at 17%. Holy moly.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/premier-league/top-scorers
Yes Havertz is an excellent player, regardless of his form in September
He is yes. I think you’d agree though converting goals isn’t necessarily his strongest point.
He’s been shit in front of goal for months mate. Hence why we need someone that can stick it away from 2 yards out…
Where is that data? He sits a few spots above Havertz…has scored more and has more assists…
Duran is the striker we should be after imo
Vardy was 29 when we activated his transfer clause but refused to offer him longer than a three year contract. He went on to score 103 PL goals over the next 6 seasons.
It’s crazy to view 29 year olds as *old* with modern nutrition / fitness.
LOL, I thought Vardy was powered by nicotine and Red Bull if the stories are to be believed
For someone amped on nicotine, he has a great set of lungs
It’s so funny, in the 2006-2014 mid-Wenger era we were all absolutely frothing for high quality 28-32 year olds to strengthen the team and provide some leadership. Now anyone in that age bracket is a washed up cunt. Football fans, go figure.
For 60 mil I would do this deal. I don’t think it’s a lot for a proven PL goalscorer. His age does not worry me in the slightest. A 32 yr old leads the PL scoring charts right now…and two yrs ago we signed Trossard at 28 etc etc
Poo-O-Meter is out of action. Plumber says he’ll be here first thing in the morning, actually he has to go to the builders providers first first-thing and with the school-traffic it could be 10am, but definitely he’ll be here by 11. Actually he’ll ring you when he’s on the way.
I read this in an Irish accent, I don’t know why but it worked nicely in my head
He’s very Domonic Solanke for me. Look how that’s turning out…
Your kidding, right?
Solanke in which way?
Watkins is a NOW type of signing and the project is in the phase NOW phase of winning. So makes a lot of sense.
Watkins is very good. If he signs and we manage to win something until the end of season, it’s a masterstroke. But what if we don’t and it prevents us from going for someone truly elite in the summer?
That’s where the question mark for me is.
Someone elite? Who is that? Gyokores is very good but plays in the unproven league. Isak will cost upwards of 100 mil. The rest are just Watkins level however his benefit is he has lots of epl experience and proven.
Watkins for 60 mil now then sesko in the summer. We need at least two…isak would be nice but don’t think that will happen.
Basically Isak.
Watkins 29 ??? Ladies & gentlemen I give you Ian Wright !!!!
I’d take him now 29 mil a year for guaranteed goals & Arsenal mentality ! What’s not to like apart from the fee !
20 mil for three top seasons !
Where’s the poo-meter when you need it?
It is baffling to me that Watkins is already 29. I always thought he is a promising “youngster” around 24.
Now you know.
£60 million for a 29 year old is too much. No resell value in a few years.
Don’t really like the look of this. Proven in the Premier league and will fit seamlessly into our team. However, I’m not too sure about his age and more importantly if we’re willing to pay 60m for him now, why didn’t we go for him at the beginning of the season. It reeks of poor planning.
He’d give his all for the Arsenal, but at 29, 70m plus would be ridiculous, but Arsenal are in dire need of a striker
What, gone up 10mil already?!
I will take victor oshimen for that amount and he’s younger and has won the league
Villa can be “upset with the approach” (so weird when I see this reported. put on your big boy pants and get on with it) but this is honestly a bit of a no-brainer for them. Watkins satisfies a short-term need for us, and Duran is clearly a better medium-to-long-term option for them, he’s a thrilling young player (albeit admittedly with an eye on his own next move). Would obviously be a wrench for them but I think in the long run it would make them stronger.
I’d much rather him score for us than against us
Old kroenke trick yet again
Bid lots of money for someone who won’t be sold and then can use this excuse to show they tried to get a striker