The alarming Ollie Watkins finishing stat which could scare Arsenal fans after bid lodged for Aston Villa striker

Add as preferred source on Google

Arsenal are pushing to sign Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa.

The Gunners have been in need of a new striker for a long time now, and they have been linked with moves to sign several players.

Nobody really expected a move for the Aston Villa star, but Arsenal tabled a bid to sign Watkins on Wednesday ahead of their Champions League game.

That, unsurprisingly, was rejected, but TBR Football can confirm that a second offer is being readied from Arsenal for Watkins.

As exciting a signing as this would be, there is a stat that could concern Arsenal fans.

The big chances Ollie Watkins has missed this season compared to Premier League stars

Watkins has to be up there with the best strikers in the Premier League.

The Englishman scored 27 goals and provided 13 assists in all competitions last season, and he has 11 goals and nine assists to his name so far this campaign.

The 27-year-old’s output has been fantastic, and many Arsenal fans are convinced that he would be an upgrade over Kai Havertz.

However, Watkins has missed more big chances in the Premier League this season than Havertz and every other player in the top flight.

That is a concerning statistic as Arsenal’s big problem at the moment is scoring goals from open play.

Havertz has actually scored more goals than the Aston Villa star this season, despite playing a few of his games as a midfielder.

Even Saka, who has been out injured for over a month now, has more direct goal contributions than Watkins in all competitions this season.

Watkins attacking stats compared to Kai Havertz in 2024/25

Havertz has done a great job at Arsenal, but for the Gunners to be the favourites to win the Premier League, they need a prolific goalscorer.

Watkins showed last season that he can deliver goals on a consistent basis, but how does his attacking numbers fare against Arsenal’s main man up top, Havertz?

The table shows above that Havertz and Watkins are not too far off each other in terms of attacking numbers.

But, the two players are stylistically very different, and that’s probably why Mikel Arteta is pushing to sign him before Monday’s deadline.

It remains to be seen if Villa will let him go after already sanctioning Jhon Duran’s move to Al-Nassr.