Aston Villa are trying to handle two striker moves at once. Ollie Watkins is drawing interest from Arsenal and Manchester United, while Villa have opened talks to sign Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea. The market is doing the rest, with Villa already rejecting one bid for Watkins and setting a higher bar for any sale.
Watkins price and interest
Villa rejected a £30m proposal from Fenerbahce and would only consider offers in excess of £40m for Watkins. There has also been a separate report that the rejected Turkish bid was £35m, but the firmer line remains Villa's demand for more than £40m before they even really engage.
That stance makes sense when you look at what Watkins has still been doing. He scored 21 goals for Villa last season and has also scored 4 goals across his last 2 Premier League appearances in the data, which is exactly why the club are not treating him like a straightforward cut-price sale.
Jackson as the replacement plan
Chelsea are understood to be demanding £65m for Jackson. He has 4 appearances, 249 minutes and a 6.6 rating at the World Cup, which suggests a player with recent match rhythm rather than a pure gamble, even if the fee is steep.
Unai Emery worked with Jackson previously at Villarreal and would seemingly welcome adding the Senegalese striker. That connection helps explain why Villa are exploring the move, but it does not make the deal cheap. Villa finished 4th in the Premier League with 65 points, so they are behaving like a club that wants to strengthen without giving away one of its best forwards unless the price is right.
The awkward part for Villa is obvious enough: they are sounding out a replacement while two heavyweight Premier League clubs watch the striker they may need to sell. The next phase will be shaped by whether the Watkins interest turns into a serious offer and whether Chelsea move on Jackson's asking price.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →
