Ollie Watkins has only been an Aston Villa player for 18 months, but his future is up in the air with ESPN revealing interest from Arsenal.
The 26-year-old has three-and-a-half years remaining on his deal at Villa Park and appears to be happy playing under Steven Gerrard, but Watkins is a self-confessed Arsenal supporter which has Villa fans on social media worrying that he might leave.
Tony Adams: “Watkins grew up a big Arsenal fan, along with all his family. (I) can see him wanting to go there in summer..”
Nicholls M J Ols: “If arsenal get into Europe this season, and with Ollie Watkins being an Arsenal fan, then this transfer wouldn’t surprise me.”
Seán Farrell: “If he wants to go, then (Arsenal can) pay through the nose. Simple.”
Ben Harrison: “If we got more than £50mil for him, I’d be happy for him to move on.”
Mark Reynolds: “He will definitely go if asked.”
Watkins joined Villa on a five-year-deal from Brentford for £28m in 2020 and has gone on to make 56 appearances in all competitions, scoring 21 goals with six assists.
The England international, who boasts one goal in five appearances for his country, has been a regular in his second season at Villa and continues to score goals (four in his last nine league games), so it’s easy to see why Arsenal are keen.
The Gunners aren’t short of attackers with Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah, but Lacazette and Aubameyang only have seven goals between them in the Premier League this season while Nketiah has amassed just 38 minutes of playing time.
A January deal for Watkins is what Arsenal would like, but it’s hard to see Villa letting such a valuable player leave midway through the season.
In other news, Alan Hutton says Aston Villa could sell Keinan Davis for £10m if this happens
