Tottenham Hotspur journalist Alasdair Gold has given his view on the club and their pursuit of Aston Villa forward Ollie Watkins in the summer.
The 25-year-old, who is valued at £28.8 million (as per Transfermarkt), had a very impressive debut season in the Premier League in 2020/21, scoring 14 goals and helping Dean Smith’s side finish 11th last campaign, performances which helped him gain international recognition along the way.
And it appears as though his performances last season managed to attract the attention of the North London side, as according to recent reports in Spain, Tottenham have shown an interest in the England international as they look to reinforce their attack.
According to Gold, though, who was appearing on Villa podcast Claret and Blue ahead of the two sides’ clash this weekend, Spurs’ interest goes beyond this past week and that they actually looked at him in the summer, but a number of factors prevented the deal from happening, and that it was unlikely to happen even without them:
“100% regret, there has to be there, because Spurs have always had this problem and it’s a big Harry Kane-shaped problem in that whoever you want to try and bring in, knows that Spurs are probably never going to switch to a front two, and if they do, it’s Son up front with Kane.
“So they looked at Ollie Watkins, they had a serious look at him because Spurs had big problems with home-grown numbers as well, so he was the perfect solution. But as soon as the price started to get to that £30m mark, they just drifted away and they don’t like to compete for players like that for some reason.
“And I think that’s gone on to be shown to be a – well, I say a wrong decision, but whether Watkins himself would have chosen to come to a team where he would have sat on the bench, he may well not have decided that, anyway.”
TIF Thoughts on Alasdair Gold’s comments about Ollie Watkins and Tottenham Hotspur…
Would you take Watkins at Spurs?
Yes
No
Gold is right with his assessment here, at least when it comes to the Watkins side of things. Given how well the two played together last season, it was highly unlikely that Watkins would be able to force his way between Son and Kane if they both were still at the club.
But after the season that Watkins had, it is understandable why Tottenham were at least considering him as an option to bring in some firepower upfront. And if Kane is eventually able to force through his move to Manchester City at some point, then Watkins should certainly be among the contenders to try and replace him.
Because if that starting spot becomes available, then Spurs might look like a more promising proposition for someone like Watkins moving forward, rather than facing the prospect of having to sit on the bench.
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