Ollie Watkins is scoring TOO MANY goals for an Arsenal or Man Utd move

Robin Bairner

• 2 Mar 2024 20:40 GMT
• 3 min read

Ollie Watkins gave another reminder of his imperious talents in front of goal as Aston Villa wriggled to a 3-2 win over Luton Town in the Premier League on Saturday.

Watkins scored two excellent first-half goals – the first a powerful header from a corner, the second a neat touch and finish after breaking beyond the back line – to give Villa the platform for victory.

It took Lucas Digne’s late header to settle the match after Luton staged an impressive fightback, but Watkins’ contribution was invaluable.

READ MORE: Premier League top scorers 2023/24

Now on 16 goals for the Premier League season, the 28-year-old centre-forward is putting up Player of the Year style numbers, leading to inevitable transfer speculation.

FootballTransfers revealed in September that Arsenal were in talks with Watkins over a potential move while Manchester United’s need for a striker would make the nine-cap England international a natural target.

But his performance this season could be taking him away from these clubs.

When Arsenal were speaking to Watkins last summer, neither he, Villa or the Gunners would have anticipated the Birmingham side reaching the Champions League.

Now Europe’s biggest competition is within touching distance, will Watkins leave Villa?

READ MORE: Latest Aston Villa transfer rumours

There certainly appears little prospect of him gambling what might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity by moving into the unknown of Man Utd’s new project.

Arsenal might be more appealing given they will also be in the Champions League, but he would surely need assurances of a starting role ahead of Gabriel Jesus.

Which team should Ollie Watkins sign for?

Data analytics experts SciSports suggest Watkins should stay where he is.

Villa boast a Club Fit score of 85, which no other club can surpass. This is calculated by using a variety of different metrics, including potential development, playing time and how formation and style might affect a player’s performance at any given side.

Real Madrid equal Unai Emery’s men on 85, yet that is before the arrival of Kylian Mbappe is taken into account.

Otherwise, Liverpool on 78, Arsenal on 74 and PSG on 73 are his best options in terms of destinations.

These scores are significantly lower than the fit he enjoys at Villa, where he is thriving.

Watkins’ goals are firing Aston Villa into the Champions League and he is playing the best football of his life – why would he want to risk this with a summer move?