Andy Gray tells Arsenal to make £100m bid for January target
Andy Gray has urged Arsenal to make a stunning £100m bid to ‘tempt’ Aston Villa to sell star striker Ollie Watkins.
Villa rejected Arsenal’s opening £60m bid for Watkins but expect the Gunners to return with an improved offer.
Mikel Arteta is desperate to sign a new striker before the January transfer window closes as he looks for attacking reinforcements ahead of what he hopes will be a successful title push in the second-half of the season.
Gabriel Jesus suffered a season-ending injury earlier in the month but the Brazilian was hardly consistent in front of goal even before his setback.
Kai Havertz has also gone through some difficult periods since his £65m move from Chelsea, with most pundits of the opinion that Arsenal need a new striker to win major trophies.
Arsenal have been linked with moves for Benjamin Sesko, Dusan Vlahovic and Victor Osimhen this month but appear to have made England striker Watkins their first-choice target.
Watkins scored 27 goals last season to help Aston Villa qualify for the Champions League before playing a limited but crucial role for England at Euro 2024.
England striker Ollie Watkins in action for Aston Villa
The 29-year-old supported Arsenal growing up and admitted earlier in his career that it would be a ‘dream’ to play for the Gunners.
Former Sky Sports pundit Gray believes Watkins would thrive at Arsenal and be an instant upgrade on Havertz, although he doubts Aston Villa will agree to sell ‘for any money’.
‘I think the timing is poor,’ the 69-year-old ex-Scotland striker said on beIN SPORTS. ‘Is it going to get done in the next couple of days?
‘There’s talk of a massive bid from Saudi for Jhon Duran so there’s uncertainty in that area of the pitch for Unai Emery.
Mikel Arteta wants to bring Watkins to Arsenal
‘I would be amazed if Aston Villa decided, for any money, to part ways with Ollie Watkins. I would be amazed.
‘Arsenal are his boyhood club so it’s always your dream to play for them, especially when they are as good as they are.
‘I actually think he would be a good fit for Arsenal, I really do. But I would not like to see him leave Aston Villa right now, especially with the uncertainty around Duran.
‘I would be amazed if they sold him for any money in this window, I cannot see them letting him go.
Aston Villa are expected to sell Jhon Duran
‘He’s a better finisher than Kai Havertz, he would score a lot more goals because he knows how to play in that position better than Havertz. In that team, Arsenal create so much so he would get goals.
‘Arsenal are panicking with a few days to go, throw £100m on the table and see if that tempts them.’
Watkins scored, made an assist and missed a penalty in Aston Villa’s Champions League victory over Celtic on Wednesday night as Emery’s side secured a top-eight place to move straight into the knockout stages and avoid any play-off games.
‘It is a massive, massive deal for Aston Villa to finish in the top eight,’ former Premier League striker Chris Sutton told BBC Radio 5 Live.
‘You think about how they are trying to develop under Unai Emery and looking to compete on the domestic and European fronts, to get a top eight place is credit to the manager and the team.
‘The pressure was on them tonight against Celtic, and there was a little wobble before half time. But they got there in the end and Morgan Rogers was unplayable.
‘They can now put their feet up as the other teams go head to head in the play-off.’