After Arsenal reportedly made a bid for the England international this week, Unai Emery has revealed Ollie Watkins wants to stay at Aston Villa.
Villa are believed to have rejected Arsenal’s £60 million ($74 million) offer for Watkins on Wednesday, with reports suggesting the Gunners are ready to make another approach before Monday’s transfer deadline.
Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka have both sustained long-term injuries, so Arsenal are looking for a new forward.
However, Emery, the manager of Villa, claimed on Friday that Watkins had assured him that he would continue to work for the club he left Brentford for in 2020.
Watkins, who has 11 goals in 32 games this season, celebrated scoring in Wednesday’s Champions League win over Celtic by tapping the badge on his shirt and Emery said: “Yes, he is happy to stay.
You can ask him, but we have always asked him how he feels each day. He has been a part of Aston Villa both with and without us every year.
He and I spoke, and we have a conversation about the message we have.
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Watkins might have pushed for a move to the Emirates Stadium because of the lure of joining title rivals Arsenal.
Emery claimed the 29-year-old wanted to repay Villa’s faith in him because they are in the Champions League last 16 and are chasing a place in the Premier League’s top four.
Ollie Watkins “has a huge commitment to us,” he said, “he appreciates a lot how Aston Villa was always supporting and helping him and how we (Emery) worked with him, always trying to get the best out of him.”
“Now we need him, like he needed Aston Villa. I usually speak with him a lot during our conversation.
“When some teams call us out about our interest in the players, it is obviously very good for both us and the players.”
“Some players prefer to leave, while others accept to remain here, stand by our side, and accept our challenge.” One of those is Ollie Watkins”.
When asked about the possibility of the Gunners making a bid for Watkins at his own press conference on Friday, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was kept quiet.
With Jhon Duran set to join Al Nassr before Friday’s transfer deadline in Saudi Arabia, Villa are looking for attacking recruitments.
After Villa president of football operations Monchi revealed in an interview that Emery is a fan of the Portugal international, they have been linked with Chelsea’s Joao Felix.
“There are names, one of them being Joao”, Monchi told El Larguero. Emery likes him because, in the three transfer markets I’ve been in, and the fourth with this one, he’s mentioned frequently and has been Emery’s only personal favorite.
Source: Channels TV
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