We’ve made it to transfer deadline day, and while things are picking up on the pitch, Arsenal are yet to make a single addition to their squad.
Mikel Arteta’s side have been linked to a whole host of exciting attackers this month, from RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko to Juventus’ Dušan Vlahović.
However, in recent days, attention seems to have turned to Bayern Munich’s teenage sensation Mathys Tel.
The French phenomenon has been heavily touted for an exit from the Allianz Arena this window, and now that potential transfers to Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United have dissipated over the weekend, the Gunners have been more heavily mooted to make a move.
However, given his age, the dynamic attacker might struggle to make the immediate impact the North Londoners need this season, so recent news linking the club to one of the best forwards around should delight fans, as should the club be able to pull this move off, it’d be one of the most significant deadline day transfers in their history.
Arsenal target Premier League star
According to a recent report from the Independent, Arsenal have maintained their staunch interest in Aston Villa star Ollie Watkins.
Transfer Focus
The report has revealed that The Gunners ‘have been considering another move’ for the Englishman as their initial offer of around £40m last week ‘left the London club with the understanding that the forward may be available for a certain price.’
However, even though the story claims that the Birmingham outfit are close to PSR limits, the fee required to get the former Brentford ace out of Villa Park stands at around £60m.
It would be an undoubtedly complicated and costly transfer to get over the line this month, but given Watkins immense ability and Arsenal’s acute need for a striker, it may be worth it, especially as he’d be a far better signing for the here and now than Tel.
Why Watkins would be a better signing than Tel
So, the first thing to say is that either player would likely be a great signing for Arsenal and significantly improve the overall quality of their frontline options, but given where the team are today and their ambitions for this season and in the next couple of years, Watkins would undoubtedly be the better signing.
There are a few reasons for this, and the first is the simple fact that this season, the Englishman has been far more effective in front of goal.
For example, in 33 appearances, totalling 2279 minutes, this season, Villa’s “nightmare,” as dubbed by Conor Coady, has scored 11 goals and provided nine assists, which comes out to a goal involvement on average every 1.65 games, or every 113.95 minutes.
Appearances
33
14
Minutes
2279′
458′
Goals
11
0
Assists
9
1
Goal Involvements per Match
0.60
0.07
Minutes per Goal Involvement
113.95′
458′
In contrast, the Bayern gem has provided just a single assist in 14 appearances, totalling 458 minutes, this season, which does not fill us with a great deal of confidence.
The second reason is that while the 19-year-old prospect has no experience of English football, the Torquay-born monster has bucketloads, working his way up from League Two with Exeter City to the Championship with Brentford and then finally the Premier League and Champions League with the Villans, so he’ll need no time to acclimatise.
Finally, while it’s often advisable to sign younger players who can grow with the team, this might be one of the few times when the opposite is true, as Watkins is clearly at the peak of his powers at the moment and could, therefore, come into the side and instantly fire them to glory either this year or in the next two, which seems unlikely to happen with Tel.
Ultimately, both players would be great additions to the squad, but as things stand, the Villa phenom would undoubtedly be the better signing for Arsenal.
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