Unai Emery sends Ollie Watkins message as Viktor Gyokeres 'agrees' Arsenal transfer

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has sent a clear message to striker Ollie Watkins amid transfer links to Arsenal.

The Gunners are on the lookout for a new striker in the summer transfer window. Injuries to both Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz have left Mikel Arteta without a recognised centre-forward for the last few months, something that may have impacted them in both the Premier League title race and the Champions League.

It was a situation that the club tried to resolve in January, before Havertz’s injury. The club made an attempt to sign a striker for the second half of the season, with one of the targets being Villa’s Watkins.

Arsenal saw a £40 million bid turned down by Arsenal in the January transfer window. Football.london understands that Villa set the asking price at £60 million, a fee that Arsenal felt was too high and caused them to walk away from negotiations.

Watkins has found regular starts hard to come by in recent weeks , since the arrival of Marcus Rashford. Injury to the United loanee has seen Villa again turn to Watkins.

The 29-year-old has started the last two Premier League games and scored the only goal of the game in the 1-0 win against AFC Bournemouth on Saturday evening.

That goal was Watkins’s 75th for Villa in the Premier League, moving him above Gabriel Agbonlahor to become Villa’s leading goalscorer in the Premier League.

To celebrate the achievement, Emery presented Watkins with a shirt with the number 75 on the back.

In a video shared on social media , while posing for photos with the striker, the Villa boss can be heard saying: “Fantastic Ollie, and more and more, and more and more and more and more.”

Later he is heard saying: “I am so grateful. And [he’s] consistent with goals, even before we arrive here. You are a fighter, that’s all I want, you are a fighter.”

Watkins will have a chance to add to his goals when Villa take on Tottenham Hotspur at Villa Park on Friday night. They then travel to take on Manchester United in the final game of the season.

Emery's gesture comes amid reports that Viktor Gyokeres is Emirates-bound. Correio da Manha reported that Gyokeres has agreed on personal terms with the Gunners.

They also claim that the club has now made a £63.4million official opening offer to Sporting CP for the striker.

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