Manchester United’s plans to recruit a ruthless goalscorer striker this summer has once again gone astray with Ollie Watkins likely to stay at Aston Villa.
The Athletic’s David Ornstein has claimed that Villa have no intention of parting ways with the “terrific” Englishman, despite recent links with the Red Devils and Arsenal.
There were murmurs that the Birmingham-based side were willing to do business for around £60 million, a figure which was out of INEOS’ reach.
There was a chance of the co-owners trying to bring the price down, or offer a potential swap deal opportunity with the Villans keen on Alejandro Garnacho.
Villa will not sell Ollie Watkins
But as per the reputable Ornstein, Unai Emery has planned for the upcoming season with the 29-year-old as their man up front in mind.
He also claimed that no club-to-club talks have taken place as yet, with all contact taking place between the 20-time English league champions and the England international’s entourage.
“Ollie Watkins, as reported by our colleague Laurie Whitwell, is among those on Manchester United’s recruitment list. I’d be surprised if he wasn’t on the recruitment list of top clubs.
“He’s such a good striker and a good lad, and they’ve maybe held some enquiries with his camp. I’m not sure if that’s gone to Villa directly.
“From my conversations with Villa, they see themselves as having no intention to part with Ollie Watkins. They want him to continue with him up front for them.”
United running out of striker options
United’s plans to replace Rasmus Hojlund have not gone to plan till now, with the club missing out on Liam Delap initially before accepting defeat in the race for Viktor Gyokeres.
Victor Osimhen also seems to be heading back to Turkey, and Ollie Watkins represents the best option currently available on the market.
How INEOS react to this update will be interesting to see. Other backup options include the likes of Moise Kean, Randal Kolo Muani, Dusan Vlahovic and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
All of them might be underwhelming signings on paper, but United need another body up top desperately and there are hardly quality names on the market currently.
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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
