Arsenal now eyeing £40m CF instead of Sesko & Gyokeres

Goals, goals and more goals; if there is one thing Arsenal lacked this season, it was goals.

Mikel Arteta’s side finished second in the Premier League for the third season on the bounce this year and produced the best defence in the competition.

Yet, the North Londoners scored 17 goals fewer than champions Liverpool and three fewer than Manchester City, who finished in third.

So, fans should be excited about recent reports linking the club to a Premier League-proven goalscorer, who’d be a significant upgrade on Kai Havertz.

Arsenal’s striker search

It feels like every other transfer story concerning Arsenal this summer has been related to a striker, specifically Benjamin Sesko or Viktor Gyokeres.

Sesko vs Gyokeres 2024-25 league stats (timeless)

According to reports from earlier this week, RB Leipzig are holding out for up to €100m for the Slovenian star, which is about £85m, while the Sporting CP star might be available for up to €70m, which is about £60m.

However, with progress seemingly stalling with both, another name has re-emerged: Ollie Watkins.

According to a recent report from Gary Jacob of the Times, Arsenal could go back in for the Aston Villa star this summer.

The Gunners had an offer of around £40m for the Englishman turned down in the winter window, but according to other reports from earlier this week, an offer of that much might be enough to seal the deal this summer.

It might not be the striker signing fans were hoping for or even expecting at the start of the window, but Watkins is Premier League-proven and would be a massive upgrade on Havertz.

How Watkins compares to Havertz

Now, even though Watkins can play in a few positions across the frontline and even played in midfield in his younger days, his best position remains up top, leading the line, so much so, in fact, that podcaster Rohan Jivan described him as “one of the best centre-forwards in Europe.”

Therefore, with Gabriel Jesus set to be out for the rest of the year, his main competitor for game time at Arsenal would be Havertz, but who comes out on top when we compare them?

Well, when it comes down to their raw output, which is ultimately what matters most for a centre-forward, it is the Englishman who comes out on top.

For example, in 54 appearances this season, totalling 3578 minutes, the former Exeter City gem scored 17 goals and provided 14 assists, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.74 games, or every 115.41 minutes.

In contrast, the Gunners’ number 29 scored 15 goals and provided five assists in 36 appearances, totalling 2809 minutes, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.8 games, or every 140.45 minutes.

Watkins vs Havertz
Statistics per 90	Watkins	Havertz
Non-Penalty Expected G+As	0.59	0.57
Non-Penalty G+As	0.76	0.58
Progressive Passes	1.07	2.93
Progressive Passes Received	5.71	5.43
Progressive Carries	1.90	1.68
Shots	2.84	2.54
Shots on Target	1.25	1.01
Passing Accuracy	72.4%	78.4%
Key Passes	0.83	0.82
Passes into the Penalty Area	0.45	0.43
Shot-Creating Actions	1.84	2.02
Goal-Creating Actions	0.42	0.14
Successful Take-On %	24.4%	23.7%
All Stats via FBref for the 24/25 PL Season

The comparison isn’t much better for the German international when we take a look under the hood at their underlying numbers, either.

For example, while he does better in some areas, such as progressive passes, shot-creating actions and passing accuracy, the Claret and Blue star comes out on top in the vast majority of relevant metrics, like expected and actual non-penalty goals plus assists, progressive carries, goal-creating actions, shots and shots on target, key passes and more, all per 90.

Ultimately, Havertz is a useful player and will likely continue to be next season, but if Arsenal want to genuinely upgrade their frontline, then they could do a lot worse than signing Watkins this summer.