Arsenal: 5 versatile forward transfers to target

3. Ollie Watkins – Aston Villa

There is a large contingent of supporters who remain keen on the idea of Ollie Watkins making the move to north London, with few seeming to sit on the fence in their opinion of the Aston Villa man.

His profile is an interesting one as he has already made the move from winger to striker, a transition he excelled in during his time at Brentford and carried over into his time at Villa.

Bagging 14 in the Premier League last season when he led the line under Dean Smith, his continuity and physical traits shone as he missed just one game across the whole campaign, completing every game he started in. Such were is performances that England came knocking, who saw his improvements across numerous facets, such as hold-up play, off the ball intensity and finishing.

This season it hasn’t been quite as spectacular, but then again he isn’t really a spectacular player. Many see the potential but forget he’s 26 years old, and that as solid as he may be in some departments he’s no more than ‘very good’ across the board. Wanting to truly elevate this team means looking somewhere else.

Arsenal have been credited with an interest over recent times, yet you need significantly more output in build-up and in front of goal to spend the kinds of figures Villa would be asking for on a player whose just entered his prime years.

Beyond quality and looking at profile, he’s extremely well suited. But that’s not enough.

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