Football Insider insists Ollie Watkins could be among a few key stars at Aton Villa who are up for a quickfire sale. The Birmingham side are aiming to stay on the right side of PSR as a few key sales would allow them to balance their books ahead of the June 30 deadline.
Since the introduction of PSR into the Premier League, the previously ignored date of June 30 has become a rather significant mark. The said date is seen as an unofficial PSR deadline for a club maneuvering to stay on the right side, which in this case is Aston Villa.
The Birmingham-based giants have struggled to consistently stay on par with PSR over the last two or three years. Last summer, they managed to offload key star Douglas Luiz to keep themselves safe from the financial regulator, and despite managing a big sale of Jhon Duran in January, they are still on the wrong side of PSR, which could force further departures before the June 30 deadline.
Hence, the report focuses on the prospect of some of their key stars leaving the club in the next three days, with Ollie Watkins among those potential departures. Aston Villa will be prepared to sell the striker if the right offer arrives, as they did reject a bid from Arsenal back in January.
Watkins is reportedly open to joining the Gunners, but the north Londoners have not followed up since that January offer. Mikel Arteta’s side are focused on signing either one of Benjamin Sesko or Viktor Gyokeres, which places the 29-year-old Watkins as an outside bet, as they might consider a move if they fail with their pursuits of those other strikers.
Manchester United have considered Watkins as their search for a striker continued. Their idea is to add someone with a younger profile, and much like Arsenal, Watkins might be further below on their preference list should they fail with other targets.
The idea of selling Watkins in a quickfire manner before the June 30 deadline might seem like a story stemming out of necessity. However, such deals are unheard of unless some clubs have seen consistent links with the striker. Hence, to find a buyer in that period and then hoping for Watkins to agree on terms with the suitor may seem far-fetched, although the striker could still leave sometime during the summer window.
