Arsenal ‘prepare bold £85m move’ for Premier League star as Osimhen hopes start to fade | OneFootball

Ollie Watkins has been linked with a move to Arsenal.

Arsenal are preparing a summer offer for Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins, according to reports, amid claims Paris Saint-Germain will go all out for Victor Osimhen.

Reports have claimed in recent weeks that Mikel Arteta and Gunners sporting director Edu will make a new striker their top target in the summer transfer window.

There have been suggestions from pundits and former players that Arsenal will struggle to challenge for the Premier League title with Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah as their main two striker options.

But critics may have changed their minds in recent weeks with Arteta’s side scoring 21 goals in their last five Premier League matches, winning all the games in the process.

A number of players have been linked but Napoli striker Osimhen keeps coming up as one of their main options as it’s now likely he will leave Serie A in the summer.

However, Kylian Mbappe’s imminent departure from PSG is likely to throw a spanner in the works for Arsenal as the French side are now set to go all out for Osimhen in the next transfer window.

There’s a possibility that Osimhen could prefer a move to the Premier League but the money on offer at PSG is likely to be far greater than the salary Arsenal are prepared to pay.

And Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport claimed on Monday that Chelsea are now more likely than Arsenal to land the Nigeria international, despite other reports insisting the Gunners now ‘lead the fight’ for Osimhen.

Spanish website Fichajes insists that they could now switch targets a bit closer to home with Arsenal ‘preparing a bold move in the summer market’ for Aston Villa’s Watkins, who has contributed 13 goals and ten assists in 25 Premier League matches this term.

Arsenal see Watkins as an ‘ideal candidate’ to boost their forward line as they ‘identify the striker’s position as one of the priority areas to strengthen’.

The report adds that any deal for the England international ‘will not be an easy task’ as Aston Villa’s asking price is likely to be ‘considerable’ and could even exceed €100m (£85m).

Watkins scored another two goals on Saturday and Unai Emery hailed his impact.

“He was fantastic,” Emery told a press conference over the weekend.

“The best action was in the first half where he created a chance for (Youri) Tielemans.

“When he’s scoring, it’s very important for him and for us. I’m very happy with him and I believe his commitment has improved a lot. Defensively in set-pieces he is also very important, I’m very proud of him.”