Aston Villa ‘to pay Watkins whatever he wants’ amid £100m Arsenal development
Martin Allen has urged Aston Villa to tie Ollie Watkins down to a new contract amid interest from Arsenal.
The Gunners have tabled a bid worth up to £60million for the England international which was swiftly rejected by Unai Emery and NSWE (Daily Mail).
Despite this, the 29-year-old started against Celtic on Wednesday (29 January) where he scored and provided two assists, cementing his importance for the Villans.
Now former Leicester City and Brentford manager Allen has suggested he could be worth upwards of £100m and has urged Villa to tie the striker down to a lucrative new deal.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, Allen said: “Ollie Watkins has been brilliant with his goals scored and assists over the years for Villa.
“There’s no manager in their right mind that would leave him out right now.
“Duran might look at that situation and think about his game time but there’s no way you can leave Watkins out, Emery has probably spoken to the higher-ups to get Watkins’ agent in to get him on a new five-year contract, pay him whatever it takes.
“If it’s a five-year deal, he’ll play for at least three for sure. He’s a match winner and that’s priceless, he’d be right up there on the numbers that Declan Rice was sold to Arsenal for at West Ham.
“If anyone wanted to buy him it would be over that £100m mark.“
Aston Villa told to offer Ollie Watkins new deal amid Arsenal interest
It now looks extremely likely that Jhon Duran is going to depart B6 in a move to Saudi Arabia to link up with Cristiano Ronaldo, meaning Watkins is once again going to be the main man.
This could prove to be a boost to the Englishman who has typically thrived for the Villans when under less competition from the bench.
As a result, Emery really can’t afford to lose the ex-Brentford star regardless of how much Arsenal might be willing to pay in the coming days.
This could see the hierarchy at Villa Park move quickly to table a new contract offer to their star striker to put off further bids from Mikel Arteta’s side.
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