Aston Villa ‘shock’ at Arsenal: ‘I don’t know who the hell they think they are’
Arsenal and their “audacity” in bidding for striker Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins have left one pundit “in shock”.
Reports emerged on Wednesday (29 January), that Arsenal had made an offer for Watkins worth £60million, that was rejected by the Midlands club [Daily Mail].
The bid was made mere hours before Villa were set to take on Celtic, in their crucial final Champions League group stage game, even as Jhon Duran appears to be nearing a move to the Saudi Pro League.
Former Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor voiced his anger before the match about the timing of the bid.
He said on talkSPORT: “The audacity of Arsenal on the eve of the evening of the game, a massive game for Villa tonight against Celtic.
“To put in a bid of £60million for Ollie Watkins to go sideways to Arsenal. The audacity of this football club. I’m in shock here…
“Duran will be the one they sell, because he’s got that side to him where he can be a bit of a handful. The manager won’t accept that.
“If they can get £75 million for him, they will definitely sell Duran. But I just don’t like the timing from Arsenal. I don’t know who the hell they think they are.”
Aston Villa must decide between star strikers Watkins and Duran in January window
Football Insider Verdict
Most teams in football struggle to find one striker to build their team around, but Villa have the luxury of having two.
However, Unai Emery’s system at Villa makes it difficult to fit both Jhon Duran and Watkins into the same starting 11.
In Villa’s 1-0 loss to Monaco (21 January), the Spaniard attempted to play the duo together in the second-half, but later admitted it was a mistake and had disrupted the team’s shape [Daily Mail].
Whilst Watkins has interest from Arsenal, Duran has also been the subject of bids from Premier League rivals, West Ham, and Saudi Pro League side, Al-Nassr.
Villa are now in the tricky situation of having to decide who to throw their weight behind, either the young talent of Duran, or the established Watkins.
Whilst Watkins is a known talent and guaranteed Premier League goal-getter, he is also 29-years-old, and with each year that goes by, his market value drops.
Duran, on the other hand, is still a somewhat unknown quantity, with Emery clearly not yet trusting the Colombian to lead his line.
In other news, there has been a huge update in Joao Felix’s move from Chelsea to Aston Villa.
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