Unai Emery responds when asked if Ollie Watkins will still be at Aston Villa amid reports of Arsenal submitting offer to sign him

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has offered a coy response when asked about Arsenal's interest in Ollie Watkins after his side's 4-2 win over Celtic in the UEFA Champions League in Wednesday (January 29).

Villa secured direct qualification to the knockout stages in Europe thanks to their victory over Celtic. Emery's side finished eighth in the league phase, recording five wins, a draw, and two losses.

The club have fielded substantial interest for both of their first-team strikers, Jhon Duran and Ollie Watkins, in the January transfer window. Arsenal were credited with an interest in Duran, however, the Colombian striker is reportedly on his way to Al-Nassr after agreeing on a transfer, per Fabrizio Romano.

The Gunners have been linked with Watkins as well and it was recently reported that they had a late £60 million bid for the striker rejected by Aston Villa. The club were unhappy with the timing of the offer from the Gunners given the imminent transfer deadline.

Emery has now been quizzed on Arsenal's rumored interest in Watkins. Speaking after the Celtic win, the Spaniard was asked by a reporter in an interview with TNT Sports:

"There were reports today that Ollie Watkins is subject of interest from Arsenal. Are you confident he will remain an Aston Villa player by the end of the window?"

To which, Emery replied:

"I know you want to ask about this. But I told you, today is not the day."

Watkins has scored 11 goals and provided nine assists in 32 games for Aston Villa this season.

Andy Gray tells Mikel Arteta to break the bank to sign Arsenal target Ollie Watkins

Former Aston Villa star Andy Gray has told Mikel Arteta to put out a £100 million bid in a last-ditch attempt to sign Ollie Watkins before the January transfer window closes.

Gray believes Watkins is far superior to Kai Havertz as a striker, insisting that the England international would score more often than the former Chelsea forward. He said:

"He's a better finisher than Kai Havertz, he would score a lot more goals because he knows how to play in that position better than Havertz. In that team, [they] create so much so he would get goals. Arsenal are panicking with a few days to go, throw £100 million on the table and see if that tempts them."

The Gunners are short of options in attack after Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus sustained serious long-term injuries. The former is likely out until March with a hamstring injury while Jesus could be sidelined for most of the year after tearing his ACL.