Manchester United have been forced to pivot to Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins in their search for a striker this summer.
Liam Delap was the first choice, thanks to Jason Wilcox’s persuasion, but the Englishman chose Stamford Bridge over Old Trafford.
Viktor Gyokeres has always been Ruben Amorim’s preferred option, thanks to their shared history at Sporting CP, but the Swede favours Arsenal over the Red Devils.
Victor Osimhen is another high-profile name linked with a move to the Theatre of Dreams, but his wage demands have meant INEOS have stayed away till now.
The Aston Villa No.9 boasts of a stellar record in the English top-flight, scoring in double digits in each of his Premier League seasons, with 15 or more coming in each of his last three seasons.
Ollie Watkins is a perfect fit for Amorim
The England international has the know-how of how the English game works, and is in the prime of his career. And his skillset truly fits in with Amorim’s demands.
The Englishman can run the channels, is adept at his back-to-goal play, and unlike Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee, Ollie Watkins is a fox in the box, a true goal-poacher, something the Red Devils have lacked in recent seasons.
Unfortunately, signing him will not be a cakewalk, with Villa demanding as much as £60 million, something INEOS are unlikely to sanction given the player’s age, which means a low resale value.
And now, as per Givemesport, Arsenal have once again joined the race for the ex-Brentford ace, and are eyeing him should they fail to land either of Benjamin Sesko or Gyokeres.
They had failed with a £40 million offer back in January. United have also got in touch via intermediaries, and it remains to be seen which club has the last laugh.
United vs Arsenal for Villa striker
“Manchester United and Arsenal have both made fresh contact via intermediaries over a deal to sign Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins, GIVEMESPORT sources have revealed.
“Arsenal’s fresh contact comes after they had a £40m bid to sign Watkins rejected six months ago, with Villa having no desire to sell the English striker at that time as Arteta looked to land a new striker for the second half of the 2024-25 campaign.
“United have made fresh contact over a potential deal for Watkins, according to GMS sources.
“Like United, the Gunners are currently prioritising other transfers in attack for Sesko and Sporting Lisbon’s Gyokeres – who is also a target for United – and trying to see if they can land either player for €70m, according to GMS sources.
“However, if they don’t find a breakthrough on either of those deals, they could revisit a move for Watkins later in the transfer window.”
Feature image Richard Heathcote via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
