Arsenal suffer transfer blow with striker set to remain at current club | OneFootball

Unai Emery says Ollie Watkins is happy to remain an Aston Villa player following interest from Premier League rivals Arsenal.

The Gunners saw a bid rejected for the 29-year-old, who has scored ten Premier League goals this season.

Villa have already let another striker leave this month in Jhon Duran, who has signed for Al Nassr.

And Emery says Watkins will stay at Villa.

“Yes, he is happy to stay,” Emery said. “We asked him how he is feeling and he is happy here.

“The commitment of Watkins is really a huge commitment to defend Aston Villa.

“He appreciates how Aston Villa was always supporting him and helping him. Also, when we joined two years ago, how we always tried to get the best of him.

“Now we need him, like he needed Aston Villa in the last years. I am speaking with him a lot, he is always adapting with every circumstances we have and of course when some teams calling us being interested in the players it’s very good for us and the players.

“Some players prefer to leave and some accept to stay here and commit with our challenges. One of them is Ollie Watkins.”

Arsenal have been trying to sign a forward this month following injuries to Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus, and Arteta says the club are doing everything they can to get a deal over the line.

He said: “I’m very confident in the work that the club is doing and we’re exploring every single opportunity that we believe can have an impact on the team.

“That’s certainly the case, and if we can agree something we will, if not we won’t.

“We are trying everything that we can but I don’t want to give any reassurance or not. I don’t know. It doesn’t depend only on us.

“Our intention is clear but the possibilities are affected by three parties.”