Manchester United are reportedly planning to make a move to sign Aston Villa star Ollie Watkins ahead of Arsenal, as per Spanish outlet Fichajes.
The centre-forward position has continued to be a problematic area for the Red Devils. They splashed over £100m in the previous two summer windows to address this issue, but the situation hasn’t improved much.
United splashed around £72m to sign Rasmus Hojlund a couple of years ago, and he displayed glimpses of his qualities in his debut campaign in the Premier League.
However, the Dane regressed completely last term, so Ruben Amorim is reportedly keen on purchasing a new striker to replace the 22-year-old.
Man Utd initially tried to purchase Liam Delap from Ipswich Town, but the player rejected a move to Old Trafford in favour of joining Chelsea. Moreover, they were interested in Viktor Gyokeres, but the player is more keen on joining Arsenal.
Now, Fichajes state that after failing to persuade their primary targets to join, United have now registered their interest in Watkins, who could leave Villa Park this summer after not being selected in a few important games in the business end of last season.
Watkins to Man Utd
Marcus Rashford, who was on a loan deal at Aston Villa from United, was selected by Unai Emery to start in the centre-forward position ahead of Watkins.
Arsenal were keen on signing Watkins in the winter window and have also been tentatively linked with a move for the experienced striker this summer.
However, Amorim sees the 29-year-old as an ideal option to strengthen the attacking department, so Man Utd are hoping to beat the North London club in this race.
Aston Villa are said to be at risk of breaching the Premier League’s PSR rule, so they need to sell players to balance the books. Watkins is valued at around £34m by Transfermarkt and still has three years left in his current contract, so Emery’s side are in a strong position to demand a big fee for him.
Watkins has been in fine goal-scoring form in the last two seasons, making 31 goal contributions in 54 appearances in all competitions last term.
He is an experienced Premier League proven striker and has the qualities to address Man Utd’s goal-scoring problems should they eventually manage to secure his service this summer.
