Unai Emery has been praised for "guilt tripping" Ollie Watkins into remaining with Aston Villa amid interest from Arsenal. Earlier this week the Gunners made a £60million approach for the England frontman - but their bid was swiftly rejected. Mikel Arteta is looking to land more firepower and went after a player in Watkins who has impressed in the final third and boasts an impressive record against Arsenal.

Villa's resolve was tested but the club have just cashed in on their other main forward option, Jhon Duran. He has moved to Saudi Arabia for more than £70m which puts the club in a good financial position and also means they're highly unlikely to sell their other striker. Emery spoke publicly above Watkins' future and, after helping him post the best numbers of his career, claimed he knew the player was committed to the project at Villa Park.

He said: "Yes, he is happy to stay. You can ask him, but we asked him how he is feeling every day, every year he has been here with Aston Villa, with us and without us. We talked with him and he is very focused on the message we have. "The commitment of Ollie Watkins with us is a huge commitment, he appreciates a lot how Aston Villa was always supporting him, helping him.". Emery also claimed: "When there are some teams calling us being interested in the players of course it is very good for us and very good for the players. Some players prefer to leave and some players accept to stay here, to be here and commit with us here and to be with our challenge. One of those is Ollie Watkins.".

Watkins is known to be an Arsenal fan and has previously talked up a future move to the Emirates. Kieran Gibbs, who was once team-mates with Arteta at Arsenal, claims Emery has been particularly smart with how he's handled the saga in the media. Gibbs told ESPN: "It’s a bit disappointing that they didn’t try and go for this a bit earlier, especially with Jhon Duran leaving. I also like the bit of guilt tripping Ollie Watkins knowing full well that Arsenal is a dream move for him. We’ve known that over the last few years.".

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