View: Aston Villa should snap off West Ham’s hand if £50m Ollie Watkins bid arrives
Ollie Watkins has been an excellent signing for Aston Villa since he arrived from Brentford two summers ago, but the club would be crazy not to accept a £50m bid.
Reports suggest that the England international will be subject to a mega-money bid from West Ham this summer as David Moyes looks to bolster his attacking options after falling short this season in the Europa League and top four hunt.
Watkins has emerged as a top target according to The Guardian with the club willing to listen to offers at around the £50m mark, an amount just under double what they paid to bring him to Villa Park.
In those two seasons since joining, Watkins has been pretty good. He has scored 26 goals in 73 games in all competitions, a rate just better than one in three, while also establishing himself as a regular in Gareth Southgate’s England squad.
Yet if a £50m bid arrives this summer, Steven Gerrard and co would be absolutely crazy not to snap their hands off and go and spend the money elsewhere to help strengthen.
Right now the club have got Danny Ings, a £40m signing last summer himself, as well as youngster Cameron Archer waiting in the wings for their striker positions.
They also have Bertrand Traore and Leon Bailey who are capable of playing in the position, but more importantly is the fact they have got far more pressing issues in their squad.
Their midfield has been identified as a big problem for Gerrard, as he has targeted Kalvin Phillips and Yves Bissouma since joining while Douglas Luiz and Carney Chukwuemeka will enter the final 12 months of their deal.
Extra cash will help the club to bring in targets that Gerrard sees as essential, and a replacement for Watkins doesn’t need to be of the absolute highest level because of the talent they already have.
Patrick Bamford, Wout Weghorst, Ashley Barnes, Teemu Pukki and Emmanuel Dennis could all be available for cut-price fees after relegation and would provide adequate cover, with change to spare.
As good as Watkins has been, there is a ceiling to his game and Villa don’t need him in the squad to progress. A £50m bid would see them almost double their money in just two years and be able to strengthen the squad in other areas.
It’s a no brainer.
In other Aston Villa news, Dion Dublin says Aston Villa must sign 5 players before competing for European places