Aston Villa -Spits Ollie Watkins is linked to a summer movement, with Arsenal and Manchester United both connected, but he could still see himself where he is
Manchester United wants to sign Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins this summer – but the club is reluctant to pay too much for a player who will be 30 in December. And Arsenal had the same worries before he stopped out of the race to sign the English international.
The Gunners explored a movement for Watkins in January, but decided in the summer that Viktor Gyokeres was the answer to their needs at the front. United has also looked at whether they can land the attacker, but are a way of an agreement.
According to reports from athletics in May, the new sports director of the Gunners Andrea Berta was not convinced by the prospect of paying to a player of Watkins' age north of £ 40 million. Joao Pedro and Hugo Ekitike were mentioned at the time as potential alternatives, although both have since joined various Premier League clubs.
United is ready to pay a little more than, with Mirror Football revealing that they hope they can agree with a deal of £ 40 £ 45 million, but it is still less than the £ 60 million villa looking. 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 party has spoken with Villa about the possibility to include 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 was able to fill the gap that had been left by Rashford's decision to spend the coming season in Barcelona.
In five Premier League seasons, Watkins scored 75 league goals for Villa. His best return came in the 2023-24 season, when he took 19 in the competition and 27 in all competitions.
He finished in the competition last season when Villa narrowly missed the qualification of the Champions League. No player ended with more than eight.
United has been in the United States for their responsibilities for the season and achieved a victory against West Ham during the Premier League Summer Series. After that victory, Baas Amorim said that he should not yet decide on his preference XI for the competition opener against Arsenal in mid -August.
“It's a strong team and we have to prepare all players, and we don't have many weeks or many games to prepare the entire team,” Amorim said. “That can change, you saw in the second half, there are players who can play in the first game. It is not a decision I have already made.”