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I think Villa’s main gripe is the fact that Arsenal dropped a bid for one of Villa’s key players hours before a massive game in the Champions League. Had it been after the game, it may not have pissed villa off so much, but it was seen as Arsenal deliberately trying to disrubt Villas season
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Ollie Watkins is pushing for a move to Arsenal in the final days of the transfer window. #AFC have already seen a £40million bid rejected out of hand. Clubs were keen to continue negotiating in private, but it seems Watkins’ agent has made it public to force the issue. #AVFC
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As one of England’s finest, Arsenal should pay £120m for him, not a penny less.
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Fixed.
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No no no, Watkins will be their saviour, they just need to fork out the £200m Villa should be demanding.
Seeing as Duran’s deal to Saudi is pretty much wrapped up, why would they then go and sell their last 1st team striker?
They would be better off telling Arsenal to fuck off, then allow him the chance to move in the summer when they have had the chance to plan who they will look at replacing him
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That sort of looks like their plan, which is why Watkins’ agent is doing everything in public
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Agreed, terrible transfer policy - but I would entirely get it if Lego Head sees Watkins as the Van Persie to United move. Short term he is a great shout to see if Arsenal can win a title, and lego head probably knows his time is up soon, and the squad he’s assembled needs a couple of quick fixes.
Watkins had better avoid any heavy lifting today because I sense a back injury in his near future.
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If they did end up selling Watkins I assume Malen would be their CF for the rest of the season. Seems to be a fairly dramatic step-down.
Morgan Rogers could probably do a job up there too in a pinch. They don;t really have any youth forwards who are ready to step in - Mason Cotcher is probably the best of the bunch of he only joined in the summer after being without a club for a year (left Sunderland after refusing a contract and having trials with Arsenal, Man Utd and Leeds) and he hasn’t scored in five appearances at U21 level for them.
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If they let both Duran and Watkins go in January, without a significant signing, they are stupid beyond belief. They are going strong in the Champions League and top four in the Prem is not out of the question, though I expect Europa this time for them.
Between the two of them Emery might have well over 100M burning a hole in his pocket, and perhaps he might try and sign Osimhem or someone like that?
It’s all a bit rushed though, and I’d be very surprised if they let both go now, without a significant signing coming in.
Edit
From the Arsenal perspective they have spent a lot of money, all over the pitch, and they are short. Havertz, Jesus and others have cost quite a lot, but they need someone to put it in the back of the net. Watkins would help them this season, but he’s not in the elite bracket and I feel it will ultimately be more dough Arsenal spend on a so-so option.
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Villa also just got Diego Carlos off their books and I’d imagine he was one of their highest earners and had barely played. I know there was some suspicion Villa were tight in terms of PSR, but after these moves you’d think they’d be in a good position to hold firm with Watkins and use this CL run to go an spend again in the summer.
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They also sold Jaden Philogene to Ipswich for more than 20m
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Watkins would have been some transfer had he been 2-3 years younger.
I remember Watkins trying his best to miss 3-4 clear-cut chances against Arsenal this season. This transfer might just be the reward for that.
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Hopefully Villa stand firm.
Drag the maximum amount of money out for him. If Arsenal don’t want to pay. So be it he stays. Learn from what Henry did.
If he thinks this his last chance to move there then that tells you a lot about the entire move and the player in general. He also hasn’t had the best of seasons. Though 10 goals is still ok I guess then again Gakpo and Diaz are on 8 and they aren’t our main goal scorer.
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It is quite funny that Arsenal identify they need to be more clinical infront of goal and so they decide to try and sign a striker who is not only probably not available but also is a striker known for being inefficient in front of goal.
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But he scores goals against them. Even if he never gets off the bench, it probably earns Arsenal 2-3 points in a season just from dropping fewer points against Villa 
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I never did understand the hype with this guy. It’s ok to inflate the price of a player if he’s English , it’s an entirely different matter to pretend he is better than he actually is simply by virtue of the fact.
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