Simon Jordan agrees with Arsenal bid for Ollie Watkins as Aston Villa make transfer demand
Simon Jordan believes that the offer put by Arsenal to Aston Villa for the transfer of Ollie Watkins before Monday night's transfer deadline was very much a fair one. Villa were left bemused by both the offer from the Gunners for their leading forward and also the timing of the leak into the public domain, just before the Champions League win over Celtic on Wednesday.
Villa are in the process of concluding the deal with Al-Nassr for the sale of Jhon Duran, Villa's other senior centre forward. They've even loaned out another striker in Louie Barry to Hull City, so losing Watkins at this stage would be risky with limited time left remaining in which to act in the window.
Watkins, who has been a revelation since joining Villa from Brentford in 2020 and has produced 116 goal contributions in 201 appearances in that time, signed a long-term contract with Villa in October 2023 but Arsenal, without Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus who are both injured, are keen on Watkins ahead of Monday's deadline. Jordan believes the offer Villa have received is fair for the player in question.
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"Why is Ollie Watkins worth more than £60m? I think it's a fair bid," Jordan told talkSPORT. "He's a 29-year-old player, I think it's a fair bid. He's a decent player, he's not a world beater. I'm not even sure, with due respect, that he adds that much to Arsenal in the bigger picture. He becomes a squad player as far as I can see.
"When he transferred from Brentford, I said I liked him as a player - that he was an honest, decent footballer, who was of a decent level. I've never said he was a world beater. In fact, so much so that he had a bite back at me last year when Villa played against Arsenal, because I discounted him from the equation.
"I discounted Villa from the equation - I expected Villa to go to Arsenal and for Arsenal to turn them over. Ollie Watkins took a bite back at me and I reminded him of the fact that I had been quite complimentary about him in the past."
