Journalist Dean Jones has claimed that Ollie Watkins could be offered to Leeds United in the next week or so.
There have been previous reports from Sky Sports stating that Leeds United were interested in signing Ollie Watkins, but this was when they first gained promotion to the Premier League.
However, the English striker has supposedly now become available for clubs to purchase because Aston Villa are willing to sell him after he was left out of the starting XI on the opening day of the season against Bournemouth.
With Villa reportedly looking to offload their striker this summer, Jones spoke to GiveMeSport and claimed that he would expect several Premier League clubs including Leeds to be offered his services within the next week.
He said: “What would happen in a situation like this is, typically, intermediaries start targeting obvious clubs when a player is made to feel like they don’t have much of a future.
“So, if that is the case with Watkins like it’s been reported, then I would expect Leeds, Crystal Palace, Everton also be offered his services in the next week or so just to gauge how much interest there is out there.”
Do you think Leeds will bring in another striker?Yes
No
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TIF Thoughts on Jones’ comments…
Leeds are in need of a striker to support Patrick Bamford in case he picks up an injury similar to last season which meant that he could feature just nine times in the Premier League, and Ollie Watkins could be the man to provide healthy competition for him.
As luck would have it, Bamford was taken off early in this weekend’s clash against Southampton, so this is clearly an issue that needs addressing somehow.
The Whites struggled for goals last season, and Watkins, who has been hailed as a ‘top player’, found the back of the net 11 times in 35 top-flight games, so he equalled Leeds’s top goal scorer, Raphinha, who has recently parted ways with the club.
With the World Cup coming up in November, Watkins will be keen to get playing on a regular basis, and the fact that he was only good enough for the bench on the opening fixture of the season for Villa, could be a sign of things to come so he could be keen to force a move away, which could mean that the deal could get over the line quickly.