It would be a surprise if Aston Villa let striker Ollie Watkins leave the club, amid interest from Crystal Palace and Leeds United for the striker this summer.
That is according to journalist Pete O’Rourke, who was speaking to This is Futbol about the club’s potential transfer business this season.
According to Ben Jacobs, Crystal Palace and Leeds are monitoring Watkins’ situation at Villa Park this summer, with the journalist stating that sources at Villa have dismissed any notions of a feud between the striker and manager Steven Gerrard this summer.
The journalist also states that the key to the 26-year-old’s future will be if he pushes for a move or not this summer.
But O’Rourke believes that it would be a surprise if the club were even thinking about the possibility of Watkins leaving the club this summer.
“I’d be very surprised if Villa would even consider letting Ollie Watkins go.
“He’s been a good signing for them since he arrived from Brentford.
“Maybe he doesn’t score as many goals as people would hope, but he offers so much more to the team as well with his work ethic and how hard he works up front as well.”
TIF Thoughts on O’Rourke’s comments
We agree with O’Rourke and would be surprised if Villa let Watkins, who has previously been dubbed as “unbelievable” by former Villa manager Dean Smith, leave the club this summer.
The Torquay-born striker is going into his third season at Villa Park, having scored 27 goals and provided nine assists in his 78 appearances at the club according to Transfermarkt, suggesting that whilst his levels aren’t at an elite level, he still provides a regular amount of goals for Gerrard’s side.
Therefore, we would be very surprised if the West Midlands side were willing to let the seven-time England international leave the club this season, especially with just two weeks of the window remaining.