Man Utd linked to striker Arsenal bid for last January

Manchester United have been widely linked with Aston Villa forward Ollie Watkins. There has been considerable development, and a transfer decision could surprise us in the near future.

If reports are to be believed, Aston Villa have informed the negotiating party at Old Trafford that Watkins is an integral part of plans at Villa Park – implying that the forward is not available for sale.

However, these are preliminary discussions that took place, and the transfer saga could evolve in the coming weeks. Ruben Amorim has put it right at the top of his summer wishlist to assemble a proven and tested attacking third for Manchester United.

Summer window and attackers

Owing to United’s poor display in front of goal in the past couple of seasons, it was absolutely necessary to purchase quality strikers up front. Amorim and Co. have been diligently working on the task, having completed the signing of two forwards in Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo.

Adding English International, Watkins, to the Red Devils’ roster will massively bolster the United attack. The 29-year-old forward has consistently proven his ability in the English top flight. In 5 seasons at Villa Park, Watkins has scored 75 goals and assisted on 34 occasions in just 184 league matches.

The transfer rumour mill

Despite United’s persistence, Aston Villa seem determined to hold onto their asset for another season at least – keeping in mind that Watkins runs out of contract in 2028. The negotiating team for Red Devils could try tempting the Villans by throwing in Alejandro Garnacho along with cash. Arsenal bid for Watkins this past January but the approach was turned down.

Garnacho would not be a like-for-like replacement for Aston Villa, nor do Villa have a backup striker in their ranks at the moment. Unai Emery’s side offloaded John Duran to the Saudi Pro League in January. Speaking post the transfer, Emery expressed his happiness at having retained Watkins at the club. The tactician was quoted as saying –

“He’s amazing. Because he’s a really hard worker and his commitment to work every day is amazing. When he is scoring goals, it’s the main objective he can have. Where he is assisting as well, he’s contributing to help the team.

“But even when he’s not doing both, he’s working for the team. Defensively, the commitment was always high. He is in the press to the opponent. His commitment and behaviour is always a very good example for others. His power is his mind. His mentality is the best quality he has”

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Watkins is not the only Aston Villa player United have had their eyes on this summer. The Old Trafford outfit also made a bid for Emiliano Martinez earlier this month, which was turned down as United did not meet the selling price.

The asking price for Martinez is believed to be in the region of £40 million.