Arsenal fans have dug up old comments made by in-form striker Ollie Watkins in which the Villa striker admits that joining the Gunners is a ‘dream’ move for the attacker.
Watkins scored twice as in-form Aston Villa beat Newcastle United in the battle of the in-form sides in the Premier League, taking the Villians to just six points behind the Magpies and taking the striker to 14 Premier League games.
Arriving from Brentford in a deal worth £30m in 2020, Watkins was a regular goalscorer before the arrival of Unai Emery, but the Spanish boss has helped improve his goalscoring and all-round game significantly.
Set to be a shoo-in for the England squad for the next round of international fixtures should he continue his form, Watkins will be catching the eye of plenty of top clubs as he terrorises defences up and down the Premier League.
But Watkins himself has already made his dream move clear, explaining that a move to north London to join the Gunners was his aim all the way back in 2020, when still at Brentford.
Asked about his future at the 2020 Championship end of season awards, where he scooped player of the season, he admitted that he wouldn’t be able to turn down the Gunners.
“It’s only because my family support them and stuff like that. But that’s a long-term [goal].”
Despite currently having three strikers on the books, Arsenal are thought to be keen to add another forward to their ranks this summer.
The future of young talent Folarin Balogun is unclear, with significant interest from clubs around Europe for the freescoring forward, while there remains scepticism around the fanbase at least about the longer-term future of Eddie Nketiah as backup to Gabriel Jesus.
A move for Watkins, then, may not be as far fetched as it sounds.
