Jamie Carragher claims Premier League star was offered to Arsenal

Former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher has seemingly started a side gig as a transfer news journalist!

Gary Neville teased Carragher by calling him “Fabrizio Romano” after his fellow pundit made a big claim about the Ollie Watkins to Arsenal story from January.

There were plenty of reports at the time about Arsenal seeing a bid rejected for Watkins, but Carragher says Villa actually contacted the Gunners about the deal.

See below as the pundit discussed the Watkins saga on today’s episode of the Overlap, stating that it’s Villa who initiated contact over this deal, rather than Arsenal coming in with an offer first…

"What, and Arsenal said no to him!?" ?

Carra reveals Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins was offered to Arsenal in January… ? pic.twitter.com/tjNCYDRrXV

— The Overlap (@WeAreTheOverlap) April 24, 2025

In the end, it seems that Villa were open to doing a deal for Watkins, but Arsenal simply didn’t offer enough money for the England international.

As a result, it seems Villa then decided to sell Jhon Duran instead, even though, as the pundits in the video above say, it probably would have made more sense for them to sell the older player in Watkins instead.

Ollie Watkins missed out on Arsenal transfer

You have to feel for Watkins here as it must be hard to miss out on such a big move, especially as the player himself has previously spoken publicly about being an Arsenal fan when he was younger.

The 29-year-old has been superb for Villa and one imagines he could have had an impact at a bigger club like Arsenal as well.

At his age, though, one imagines this was probably Watkins’ last chance to get a big move like this.

Villa fans will be glad to have kept Watkins, and he should still remain a key part of this exciting Unai Emery side, which continues to go from strength to strength.

The post Jamie Carragher claims Premier League star was offered to Arsenal appeared first on CaughtOffside.