Arsenal urged to abandon Gyokeres, Osimhen chase and sign ‘Thierry Henry like’ Prem striker

Arsenal are being told to abandon reported interest in signing Victor Osimhen and Viktor Gyokeres this summer and instead focus their efforts on trying to sign Ollie Watkins instead, amid claims Aston Villa may be forced to cash in.

The 11-times England striker has enjoyed a phenomenal season under Unai Emery, where he has scored 19 times and laid on 10 assists in the Premier League alone – with one more goal making him the first Aston Villa striker since Peter Withe some 40 years ago to break the 20-goal barrier in a top-flight league campaign for the club.

Currently second only to Erling Haaland and Cole Palmer (20 goals apiece), Watkins is a leading contender to win the Premier League’s golden boot, having amassed 26 goals in all competitions so far.

Touted as a contender by The Guardian to be named the 2024 PFA Player of the Year, Watkins’ importance to the Villa cause cannot be understated, with his value not lost on his impressed manager Emery.

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“I think the best of him is coming,” said Emery of Watkins last month.

Those words certainly echoed true at Emirates Stadium on Sunday when Watkins put on a brilliant display to help Emery to a sweet 2-0 win over his former club and derail their title hopes in the process.

Now very much at the peak of his powers, Watkins was desperately unfortunate not to score in the first half when a run and shot clipped the inside of the post and fizzed across goal before going out.

But the player did get his reward in the second half when he held off Emile Smith Rowe and lifted a brilliant finish over the advancing David Raya to put the game to bed.

Watkins to Arsenal talked up by Theo Walcott

Since that goal, there has been something of a new appreciation from the general public of Watkins’ brilliance this season.

Well loved by his fans at Villa, the former Brentford man has perhaps not got the love and attention he probably deserves from both the media and rival supporters.

Now former Arsenal man Theo Walcott has joined the chorus of his admirers and suggested to Mikel Arteta that he should pursue a summer move for the striker, amid links to more costly options in Gyokeres, who has a €100m (£85.4m) exit clause and Osimhen, whose buy-out at Napoli sits at €120m (£102.5m).

And he believes a move for Watkins would tick plenty of boxes for Arsenal, especially in light of suggestions that Villa may be forced to cash in on a star name this summer to keep the club within the new tighter FFP restrictions being brought in by the Premier League.

Convinced Arsenal will spend big on a new striker this summer, Walcott stated: “They will invest in that player and that player could well have been playing on the opposite side here.

“I am indeed (talking about Ollie Watkins). I feel he is the sort of player that Arsenal would look to.”

‘Thierry Henry like’

“What I really like about Ollie Watkins is you look at his style and you think he is a winger, he reminds me, and it’s one of the best compliments I’m going to give him, but like a Thierry Henry. Played out on the left a lot. He wanted to be a forward, but drifted out on the left and he’s such a threat on the counter.

“I feel like, when he goes through, he is going to score, that’s how confident he is playing right now.”

The striker has a career tally of 154 goals in 407 games, with 69 of those coming from 161 appearances for Villa.

Now at the peak of his powers, Watkins would be an excellent fit for Arsenal, with his tireless work-rate, ability to play across the frontline and killer instincts in front of goal making him the oerfect modern day No 9.

As such, Arsenal would likely need to stump up a hefty fee to convince Villa to even consider his sale, with a fee of around £75m likely to be required for a player currently under contract at Villa Park until 2028.

With TEAMtalk sources informing us that Eddie Nketiah will be put up for sale by Arsenal this summer to help fund a new striker signing, Walcott claims a lot of teams will be keen on the Villa man – and he hopes Arsenal will be right in the mix.

“There will be a lot of teams sniffing, I am pretty sure right now. He is very different.”

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