Aston Villa chief Monchi has confirmed that Arsenal are in the market for a striker, amid interest in Ollie Watkins, as the Villa Park sporting director has revealed they will bank more than £70million for the sale of Jhon Duran.

Villa are facing an intense end to the January transfer window after Al-Nassr registered an interest in the Colombian footballer, as well as a battle to keep their top goalscorer. The Gunners launched a transfer offensive in the region of £60million for the 29-year-old as Mikel Arteta looks to resolve his attacking issues.

The Saudi Pro League title-chasers are pushing to sign in-demand 20-year-old, Duran after a fine season from the Colombia international. Monchi revealed in an interview that Arsenal are in the market for a striker after it was confirmed that former Gunners-linked Marco Asensio is a player that Unai Emery admires.

READ MORE: Arsenal have a new £91m reason to be bold with summer transfer as rivals falter

READ MORE: What Unai Emery told Aston Villa board about Ollie Watkins to Arsenal transfer

"Between fixed and variable amounts, it will be close to 85m euros (£71m)," he said via AS. "There are a few small details left and for the player it is an incredible economic leap. You are not only a sporting manager, but also a financial manager for a club.

"The first thing we are going to do with the money we receive from the sale of Duran is to keep a portion of it because of the Fair Play rules, which are very demanding.

"A significant part of the income will go towards that. Then there are names, one of them being Joao Felix.

"He [Asensio] is a player that Emery has always had in mind because he believes in his quality," he added. "Arsenal? I think they are more looking for a striker, because of the injuries they have had. What I do know is that Asensio is not playing.”