Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins has been linked with a summer move, with Arsenal and Manchester United both linked, but he could yet see himself staying where he is
Manchester United are keen on signing Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins this summer - but the club are reluctant to overpay for a player who turns 30 in December. And Arsenal had the same concerns before pulling out of the race to sign the England international.
The Gunners explored a move for Watkins in January, but decided over the summer that Viktor Gyokeres was the answer to their needs up front. United have also looked at whether they might be able to land the forward, but are some way from an agreement.
According to reports from The Athletic back in May, the Gunners' new sporting director Andrea Berta was unconvinced by the prospect of paying north of £40million for a player of Watkins' age. Joao Pedro and Hugo Ekitike were mentioned as potential alternatives at the time, though both have since joined different Premier League clubs.
United are ready to pay a little more than that, with Mirror Football revealing that they hope they can agree a deal of £40-£45m, but it's still less than the £60m Villa are after. Ruben Amorim wants a proven striker to lead the line at Old Trafford, but the asking price is considered too steep.
As an alternative, Amorim's side have spoken to Villa about the possibility of including Alejandro Garnacho in a player-plus-cash deal. Villa took Marcus Rashford on loan from United for the second half of last season, and Garnacho could yet fill the gap left by Rashford's decision to spend the upcoming season at Barcelona.
In five Premier League seasons, Watkins has scored 75 league goals for Villa. His best return came in the 2023-24 season, when he bagged 19 in the league and 27 in all competitions.
He finished last season with 16 in the league as Villa narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification. No United player ended up with more than eight.
United have been in the United States for their pre-season responsibilities, earning a win against West Ham during the Premier League Summer series. After that victory, boss Amorim said he had yet to decide on his preferred XI for the league opener against Arsenal in mid-August.
"It's a strong team and we need to prepare all the players, and we don't have a lot of weeks or a lot of games to prepare all the team," Amorim said. "That can change, you saw in the second half, there are players who can play in the first game. It's not a decision I made already."
napdemny
0
Because man united players played better than before
napdemny
0
Arsenal is going down
napdemny
0
Manchester United is better than Arsenal
napdemny
0
Manchester United are the best club ever
hikbdeilny
1
Man Utd Need E.P.L Experience... Watkins is the best for Man Utd
hikbdeilny
0
Watkins is the best
BlezGunnerz
1
come and sign Havertz
wepceprst
0
if man united had signed osimhen all this striker issue would have been in the past..there was no competition from other clubs for osimhen so it would have been easy for united now they will end up having a panic buy as usual.. good luck to them.. anything they see next season is their fault.
sancdrtuy
1
Watkins to me is my preferred choice bcos Holjund isn't leaving and would be a good back up to Watkins while Chido Obi either go on loan or remain as 3rd choice. The fact is you can't have 2 inexperienced players in Holjund and Sesko at ages 22 and 21yrs respectively as that would pose as a risky gamble having Watkins and one of the youngsters is the way forward what Utd need to do is bargain with Villa for a reduced fee bcos paying 60m is ridiculous for a 29yr - 30yr old striker.
Zesabclstu
0
no way lea sign Ollie Watkins Benjamin Seako Havertz
moheksz
0
Why they are trying to sign over 30year old striker 🤔
Coaabkors
1
Why will United wants to sign Watkin for 40M, or even include Garnacho plus cash? This is ridiculous. If United signs Watkin, how many seasons will he play for? Why we always making a mistake when it comes to signing players. He's not a player for the future, he's almost 30, bull shit.
AFerbzdk0607
1