The pursuit of Ollie Watkins was ‘not unanimous’ at Arsenal before Mikel Arteta’s ‘stance won out’ with the Aston Villa striker ‘excited’ at the prospect of joining. Arsenal were keen to bring in another attacker before the transfer deadline with the Gunners looking at a number of options before eventually make an offer for Aston Villa’s Watkins.

A late pivot to focus on the forward line led to an opportunistic attempt to sign Ollie Watkins and discussions over Alvaro Morata

The chances of Watkins being one of those continues to dwindle especially following Jhon Duran's confirmed switch to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr. Following a major update on Saturday, Arteta's pursuit of the 27-year-old looks to have been further derailed.