Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes were dealt a huge blow on Sunday after a 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa.
Unai Emery has, once again, come back to haunt his former club by, not only beating them here, but also doing the double over Arsenal this season.
Leon Bailey was the one who started the heartbreak with a well-worked finish at the near post, before Ollie Watkins doubled his side’s lead to seal the points.
Going back to the previous campaign, and this season, the constant talk around Arsenal has been the club’s need to sign a proven goalscorer.
There are plenty of them about, it’s just a case of bringing them on board, and if they do, then they could probably get the team over that Premier League title line.
Well, Theo Walcott thinks there is a player that his former club might just ‘invest in’ when the summer transfer window re-opens.
After watching Watkins dunk on Arsenal’s title chances, Walcott could see the English star securing a move to the Emirates, as he told Premier League Productions (15/04/24 at 11:15 pm).
The 28-year-old is at the peak of his powers. He has scored 19 Premier League goals this season, added with ten assists and is guiding Villa to the Champions League.
Walcott also paid the Euro 2024 hopeful ‘one of the best compliments’ and stated that he reminds him of Thierry Henry.
Ollie Watkins at Arsenal
“You look at their goals tally right now,” said Walcott about Arsenal. “They will invest in that player and that player could well have been playing on the opposite side.
“I am indeed (talking of Ollie Watkins). I feel he is the sort of player that Arsenal would look to. What I really like about Ollie Watkins is that, you look at his style and you think he is a winger, he reminds me, and it’s one of the best compliments I am going to give him, but like a Thierry Henry. Played out on the left a lot. He wanted to be a forward, but drifted out on the left – he’s such a threat on the counter.
“He is playing at the top of his game and it would be refreshing to see if he stays at the club. There were warning signs when he hit the post. I feel like, when he goes through, he is going to score, that’s how confident he is playing right now. There will be a lot of teams sniffing, I am pretty sure right now. He is very different.”
Aston Villa wouldn’t sell Ollie Watkins
Villa have been one of the stories of the season and they are flying in the Premier League, with top four in their sights.
This isn’t a case of sitting on this fourth-place finish, if it happens, and then not moving forward in the next few years.
This club wants to go right to the top again, and to do that, you need to keep your best players.
That was proven by Watkins penning a new contract this season. If you want him, not even a Declan Rice type of transfer would probably secure his services.
So, in that sense, Arsenal are probably too late to the party and they should have invested in Watkins back in 2019 when he was at Brentford because it’s going to be very, very difficult to sign him now.