Aston Villa pundit and presenter Dan Bardell has been sharing his praise for Villa striker Ollie Watkins and his first season with the Midlands club.
This comes after Bardell hosted the latest episode of The Villa View Podcast where he spoke about a range of topics concerning Dean Smith’s side, including their recent 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur.
On the subject of Watkins, who scored Villa’s winning goal against the north London club at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Bardell had this to say about the Englishman.
He said: “I just think he’s had a phenomenal season.
“I don’t know how many Premier League goals that he’s nabbed but I think he’s got five assists as well, you know, his productivity for his first season in the Premier League, he’s been incredible and he scored a lot of goals like that where he’s put the defence under pressure and he’s forced the mistake and he’s worked something for himself out of nothing.
“If ever a performance epitomised the guy, it was [against Spurs] because he’s unbelievable.”
Villa signed Watkins back in the previous summer transfer window from Championship side Brentford for a club-record fee of £30.6 million.
Since then, the 25-year-old, who is currently valued at £28.8 million, has made 39 appearances for the club across all competitions in which he has managed to score 16 goals and provide five assists along the way (per Transfermarkt).
TIF Thoughts on Dan Bardell’s comments on Watkins…
Given the amount of goals Watkins has managed to rack up during his debut season with Villa, it’s understandable why Bardell has been singing his praises, especially after his latest goal for the club managed to secure three points for Villa against Tottenham.
Do you think Watkins has been Villa's best player this season?
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In our view, it seems that Villa’s decision to break their transfer record on Watkins has been a smart one, and he will surely be in the running to be named as one of Villa’s players of the season given his impact as the club steered well clear of relegation trouble in their second season since promotion.
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