Aston Villa were ‘furious’ with the Arsenal approach, and it was a bit of a d*ck move. Not because they’ve made a bid for Watkins, who didn’t magically turn up at Villa after all, but because making the bid so close to arguably Villa’s biggest game of the season is hardly going to ease negotiations.

Arsenal would ‘prefer’ to sign two alternative strikers to Ollie Watkins but have ‘panicked’ in the final week of the transfer window, according to former Gunners midfielder Emmanuel Petit. The north London club are considering making a second offer for England international Watkins after seeing their opening £60m bid rejected by Aston Villa.