BREAKING: Arsenal have reached out to another club regarding a potential £50 million move for a striker, following stalled negotiations for Alexander Isak.
With Isak talks reportedly going nowhere, the Gunners are now in direct communication with a new club as they aim to bring in a top-class forward to lead the line for Mikel Arteta next season.
This could be a game-changing move—Merino simply isn’t cutting it up top. The club urgently needs a clinical finisher, and this target could very well be the missing piece.
If this goes through, it might just become Arteta’s most impactful signing yet.
The report states Arteta’s side want to ‘reignite’ their bid for Watkins in the summer, partially because his role has diminished at Villa since Marcus Rashford has been at the club on loan.
Watkins played just 25 minutes across the two legs of the Champions League quarter-final clash against Paris Saint-Germain, and he’s started just two of the last five Premier League games.
According to the report, the development has not gone unnoticed at Arsenal as they look to revolutionise their attack. Villa’s sale stance could depend on whether or not they are going to sign Rashford permanently.
They have a £40million option to do so, but Unai Emery has remained shtum on his motives towards Rashford.
The impressive Champions League run aside, Arteta’s men have failed to deliver the relentless consistency that is needed to win titles in a world were achieving more than 90 points has become the minimum requirement to even challenge.
There have been far too many draws and far too many missed opportunities to maintain pressure on Arne Slot’s new-look Liverpool side who have led from the front with ruthless composure.
It is not as if the Gunners have lacked quality. Their run to the semi-finals of the Champions League, which has included the dismantling of reigning European champions Real Madrid, has proven as much.
But injuries in forward areas have exposed a lack of squad depth that has ultimately cost the club when it mattered most.
The prolonged absence of Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus as well as the hamstring injury sustained by Kai Havertz in February has left the squad having to function without a recognised striker.