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Ollie Watkins on Arsenal’s radar as Gunners eye summer striker swoop

By on February 21, 2024

Ollie Watkins Aston Villa

According to Fichajes, Arsenal are plotting an audacious swoop to sign Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins during the summer transfer window.

One of football’s worst-kept secrets is that Arsenal will attempt to sign a striker this summer. The fact that they’ve scored 14 goals in their last three games has some people thinking they could reconsider the need for a new hitman.

However, Nketiah’s inability to break into this team (Trossard is currently benching him), Gabriel Jesus’s persistent injuries, and their attacking troubles in the first half of the season make it evident that they need to buy another striker.

It’s worth mentioning that Merson has already stated that Arsenal needs a new striker since Nketiah and Jesus cannot lead the team to victory.

“I think Arsenal need a forward, if I’m going to be honest,” said the Arsenal legend on Sky Sports.

“I don’t think they are going to win it with Jesus and Nketiah upfront.

“I think they will take them so far, which they did last season. I think that would be the case.”

Watkins’ deal considered

The likes of Ivan Toney and Victor Osimhen have been linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium. However, Spanish publication, Fichajes reports that Arsenal are in fact targeting an audacious move for Ollie Watkins.

According to that report, Arsenal intends to make a big move and bid for the Villa man. Watkins has scored 13 goals in 25 league appearances this season, which is very impressive. Those numbers may have caught the Gunners’ attention.

Fichajes makes it clear that Arsenal are interested in the 28-year-old, but also confirm that the deal will be difficult to close. They claim that Aston Villa will demand at least £86 million to sell their star man.

It will be intriguing to see if Arsenal can pull off another major deal like they did with Declan Rice a year ago. However, signing Rice for £105 million and watching him perform well may have persuaded them that it is sometimes necessary to pay a lot of money to obtain the player you want.