Arsenal told to make £100m transfer bid to seal move before deadline day - The Mirror

Arsenal have made a late move to sign Ollie Watkins with a £60m bid getting rejected by Aston Villa as the Gunners are urged to massively up their offer if they want to land the striker

Andy Gray has challenged Arsenal to table a £100million offer for Ollie Watkins as he criticised the timing of their approach.

The Gunners are in the market for a frontman with time running out in the January transfer window. On Wednesday they made a move to land Watkins, who has continued to impress in a Villa outfit that are into the Champions League knockouts.

Watkins has an impressive record against Arsenal, scoring on his last two visits to the Emirates, and last term notched 27 times in all competitions. Mikel Arteta has identified him as a potential arrival but time is not on his side if he wants to get a deal done.

Villa have also received an offer for Jhon Duran, who is closing on a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia, and they will be loathed to lose both their frontmen. Gray claims the north Londoners need to table huge money if they have any hope of convincing Villa to sell.

He said on beIN SPORTS: "I think the timing is poor. Is it going to get done in the next couple of days? There’s talk of a massive bid from Saudi for Jhon Duran so there’s uncertainty in that area of the pitch for Unai Emery. I would be amazed if Aston Villa decided, for any money, to part ways with Ollie Watkins. I would be amazed.

"Arsenal are his boyhood club so it’s always your dream to play for them, especially when they are as good as they are. I actually think he would be a good fit for Arsenal, I really do. But I would not like to see him leave Aston Villa right now, especially with the uncertainty around Duran. I would be amazed if they sold him for any money in this window, I cannot see them letting him go."

He then challenged then as he said: "Arsenal are panicking with a few days to go, throw £100m on the table and see if that tempts them."

That fee would go close to matching the club-record fee they spent to land Declan Rice 18 months ago. Arsenal are looking to finally land the Premier League title and Watkins would aid their cause. Unai Emery has confessed that, whilst they want to keep their best players, they will stay open minded regarding offers.

The Villa boss said: "I don't want [to sell]. It is good news to have offers from other clubs. We want to keep our sporting objective through the players we have in the squad. Every player can be in the market if it is good for the player and the club. To get this deal we are going to be demanding. Watkins is our striker."

He also claimed: "The club is working and we have to be intelligent in the market. Our objective here is to keep our structure because we want to keep the level high, and maybe we have to sell some players."

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