Arsenal have been touted to land a lifelong fan of the club this summer in their quest for a top striker to take them over the line.
For the third season running, manager Mikel Arteta has failed to deliver a Premier League title, with Liverpool wrapping up their 20th championship recently, while the Gunners’ form has dipped following major injuries in attack.
With Champions League action returning tonight for Arsenal, there could yet be big silverware coming to North London before the end of the season – but new sporting director Andrea Berta is said to already be busy looking to secure a prolific no.9 ahead of next season.
Arsenal touted to make huge signing in attack this summer
With Raheem Sterling looking likely to return back to Chelsea following his loan spell, Gabriel Jesus out with an ACL injury until midway through next season and Leandro Trossard a real possibility to sell this summer, big moves are expected in attack at N5.
Despite this, links with new forwards have gone quiet, with the likes of Martin Zubimendi said to be close and defender Cristhian Mosquera said to be in talks.
Now, CaughtOffside have reignited the rumour mill, claiming that Ollie Watkins would be interested in a move this summer.
Speaking to former scout Mick Brown, the report states that any impending permanent arrival of Marcus Rashford at Aston Villa could push the 29-year-old out of the picture and that his historic support of Arsenal could be a decisive factor in wanting to join the Gunners.
FourFourTwo understands that Watkins is merely one of several options on the radar for the club: but the England international isn’t necessarily the top pick of either manager Arteta or director Berta.
Arsenal were heavily linked with an opportunistic move for Watkins back in January but any possible transfer back then was dependent on Jhon Duran remaining in the Midlands – and with Berta having since joined, he has his own ideas of forwards to chase.
Berta’s arrival would make a Watkins move a surprise to say the least: Viktor Gyokeres has emerged as a target in recent weeks, while historic interest in Benjamin Sesko could well be sparked up once more, should his club, RB Leipzig, fail to qualify for the Champions League this season.
Watkins is worth €50m, according to Transfermarkt. Arsenal travel to PSG tonight in the second-leg of the of the Champions League semi-finals.
