According to recent reports, Crystal Palace are leading the race for Brentford striker Ollie Watkins – with Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion also interested.
The BBC reports that, following Brentford’s play-off final loss to Fulham on Tuesday evening, Watkins will be available for an £18 million fee this summer due to a clause in his contract with the Bees.
The report goes on to claim that Palace ‘lead a number of clubs’ in the race for the striker, with the Daily Mail reporting that the other interested parties are Aston Villa and West Brom.
Since moving to Brentford from Exeter City in a £1.8 million deal back in 2017, the 24-year-old has highly impressed for Brentford, scoring 49 goals and making 17 assists in 143 appearances for the club, with 26 of those goals and three of the assists coming in last season’s Championship campaign.
These goals helped Brentford to finish in third place in the league last season, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion to the Premier League, and although the club failed in their second chance at promotion in the play-offs, it would seem that there is a very high probability that Watkins will indeed be playing his football in the top flight next season.
TIF Thoughts…
Watkins would certainly be an impressive addition to the Palace attacking line-up, and with the club actively looking to recruit younger players this summer, in an attempt to bring the squad’s average age down, at just 24-years-old, he would fit that bill too.
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