Jamie Carragher shares new Ollie Watkins to Arsenal transfer theory - 'They didn't'

didn't sign from Aston Villa in January because they didn't offer enough money, according to . to north London as the Gunners looked to strengthen their depleted forward line.

However, Villa instead sold Jhon Duran to Al-Nassr for £65million and Watkins stayed put in the west Midlands. Marcus Rashford later arrived from Manchester United in a loan deal until the end of the season and has battled Watkins for the first-choice starting striker berth in Unai Emery's team.

Watkins has scored 15 goals and added seven assists in 34 Premier League matches this season. Only Bryan Mbeumo (24), Erling Haaland (24) and Mohamed Salah (45) have contributed to more goals than the former Brentford man. It's no surprise that Arsenal wanted to sign him in January.

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But Mikel Arteta's side didn't end up getting a deal over the line because they didn't offer enough money. And ex-Liverpool defender Carragher has since claimed that the Gunners offered around £50million for Watkins - but that was rejected and short of Villa's £60m asking price.

Speaking on The Overlap's Stick to Football podcast, Carragher said: "When we talk about Arsenal going for Ollie Watkins, someone told me that Aston Villa offered him to Arsenal. I know that.

"I don't think it was Arsenal phoning Villa saying they want to sign him. Arsenal didn't sign him because they didn't offer a lot of money. They offered around £50million. However, this is the information I had.

"If I know that then I'm sure his agent knows that.

"Villa have spent a lot of money, and they need to get something back. In an ideal world, you probably would sell Ollie Watkins and keep Jhon Duran because he's the younger player - he's only 21."

Watkins appears to have lost his place at Villa's first-choice striker right now. Rashford got the nod up front in each of their two Champions League quarter-final matches against Paris Saint-Germain, and also started in the 2-1 defeat against Manchester City earlier this week.

After the 4-1 victory over Newcastle United last Saturday, Watkins admitted his frustration at dropping out of the starting XI and said he was "fuming" that he didn't start in either game against PSG.

That interview caused some backlash, but Ian Wright has since defended Watkins and reckons that he has every right to be annoyed at Emery. "When Jhon Duran was at Aston Villa, the form of Ollie Watkins was in and out," he said on the same podcast.

"Ollie gives me the impression that, when he's dealing with that kind of pressure, he doesn't get the shout. With Marcus Rashford coming in, maybe he feels disrespected.

"Of course, he has every reason to be frustrated about what's going on, and I'm quite pleased that he said he was fuming - as a striker, you want to be out there scoring goals.

"When he played against Newcastle and started that game, he was brilliant - it would've been enough for me to give him back his spot. If he's not getting his place back when he's doing the right stuff, he's going to be fuming."