Before Arsenal’s win over Girona, reports broke that the club had seen a £60million bid for Ollie Watkins rejected. It comes in the aftermath of Arteta admitting his side need a new striker, but they he refused to comment on the matter.
The biggest target elsewhere is Mathys Tel, who appeared to bid goodbye to Bayern Munich fans on teh pitch last night and is the subject of a bidding war involving Manchester United, Tottenham, Chelsea and, potentially Arsenal. Spurs have also been linked with Yoane Wissa, Noah Okafor, Tyler Dibling and Angel Gomes.
Arsenal are set to switch their attention from the Champions League back to the Premier League as they prepare to take on Manchester City. The Gunners know a win is imperative to keep them in with a slim shout of winning the title, while their opponents now have a top-four finish firmly in their sights.
Villa boss Unai Emery made it clear that any club chasing Watkins face an uphill battle. The former Arsenal manager said: “I don’t want [him to leave]. It is good news to have an offer from other clubs, or interest, it is good.
Mikel Arteta wants new signings for Arsenal's forward line - in Nwaneri, he has a player for his short-, medium- and long-term ambitions
Marrying his attacking and creative attributes together, Watkins’ off-ball running is also a key part of his wider contribution to his team going forward. Across the Premier League, he is one of the men most likely to stretch the opposition’s defensive line with his intelligent movement.
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Manchester City scraped into the Champions League play-offs and Liverpool finished at the summit despite losing to PSV Eindhoven. Aston Villa sank Celtic to finish in the top eight and go straight through to the last 16, but Villa’s Ollie Watkins was the target of a bid by Arsenal.
According to MilanLive, Zlatan Ibrahimovic - who is now an advisor at AC Milan - has begun sounding out Kulusevski over a return to Serie A. The Rossoneri are said to want to sign the 27-year-old on loan with an obligation to buy this summer, with Tottenham said to be demanding €50 million.
Ollie Watkins dreams of playing for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta is trying to help him realise this ambition. On Wednesday Arsenal made a formal offer for the Aston Villa striker amounting to around €72 million.
🚨 Aston Villa are determined to reject new approach from Arsenal for Ollie Watkins. Unai Emery wants Ollie to stay and Villa didn’t like amount of first bid (£60m), also timing of the leaks ahead of UCL game. #AVFC are focused on Jhon Durán to be sold to Al Nassr now. pic.twitter.com/vnslhIGRlG