Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa scores against Celtic at Villa Park. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
With time of the essence in the January transfer window, Arsenal have already identified which striker they want to sign after failing to lure Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins to the Emirates Stadium.
It’s believed that Watkins is a fan of the North London club and it would clearly be a dream to sign for them, however, Unai Emery would appear to not want to sell the England international after agreeing to allow Jhon Duran to join Al Nassr.
Arsenal chasing Sesko and Vlahovic after Watkins failure
According to CaughtOffside sources, the Gunners have quickly pivoted away from Watkins despite reports to the contrary and, in fact, are now going to push for either Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig or Dusan Vlahovic from Juventus.
Man United wanted Vlahovic in a swap deal for Joshua Zirkzee earlier in the month, but nothing has transpired at this point.
The Serbian has lost his place to Randal Kolo Muani and sources understand that even before the PSG man was acquired, Juve were open to saying farewell to Vlahovic.
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Mikel Arteta’s priority has always been Sesko, and Leipzig’s elimination from the Champions League could yet facilitate the player’s exit, even if the Bundesliga outfit is absolutely not open to reducing his price.
Ollie Watkins unlikely to secure Gunners dream
If, in the end, there is no time for Arsenal to buy a more traditional centre-forward, sources have told CaughtOffside that Arsenal will also evaluate the possibility of buying a replacement for Bukayo Saka.
At present, the players under consideration are Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo – who is also of interest to Liverpool – and Bryan Mbeumo, whose contract expires at Brentford in June 2026.
Mbeumo’s situation in particular would at least give the Gunners some leverage, but time is running out and they need to move quickly if they want to finalise any new signings.
