Could Watkins be the answer to Arsenal’s striker problem?
Now, I know what a lot of you are thinking, this article is coming straight off the hype of the England game and Aston Villa and English international’s Ollie Watkins goal in the Euro’s semi-final against The Netherlands, and you’d be right. Before yesterday I’d hardly even considered the 28-year-old striker as an option for Arsenal as there’s been so many names thrown about that it’s been hard to keep up, but after last night, something moved me and I started to think, what if he would be the perfect fit at the club.
I’m a big fan of Watkins, I’ve watched a lot of him last season at Aston Villa and he really is a great player, hence why he got the England call up for the finals. Scoring 24 goals and 13 assists in all competitions last season and was one of Unai Emery’s stand out players throughout the season, managing to help Villa finish 4th and qualify for Europe again and even scoring the winner against us at The Emirates that ultimately saw us miss out of the title
He may be 28 years old, but he seems to be getting better with age and for a team like Arsenal who are looking for a strong number 9, he could be the perfect fit. He’s very good on the ball and reads play well, getting himself into great positions and using his strength against defenders to get the ball past them. He knows exactly where the back of the net is but he’s also not selfish in the way he plays, setting up his teammates and looks like he’s a real team player too.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been a big fan of bringing in player who already have Premier League experience, Manchester City have been doing this for years and have managed to build strong squads because of it. We saw the same with Declan Rice and Kai Havertz last season, it didn’t take long for them to get settled and get going and weren’t surprised or taken back by the League because they had already been playing in it. This makes the process of hitting the ground running a lot easier, and I think Watkins would excel under a manager like Mikel Arteta.
This obviously wouldn’t be an easy deal, Emery loves Watkins and they both seem to have a great relationship. He has a contract at Aston Villa until 2028, but, it’s well known that Watkins has always been a big fan of Arsenal and his family have admitted in the past that it would be a dream move for him, so you never know, he could be tempted. Villa aren’t anything to joke about these days though and they seem to be building a good project like we are so I don’t think it would be easy in any aspect.
Maybe I’m just buying into the hype too much but from where I’m sitting, if we could get him for a decent price, he seems like he would be the perfect fit at a club like Arsenal.
What’s your thoughts Gooners?
Daisy Mae
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