Championship club Brentford seek £15m for striker wanted by top-flight duo
Drew Bartle Head Sports Editor
The London Evening Standard write that Premier League clubs Crystal Palace and Bournemouth are showing interest in signing Ollie Watkins from Championship side Brentford – but the Bees are holding out for £15 million for the English forward.
Brentford signed Watkins for just £1.8m from League Two side Exeter last summer and stand to profit over £13 million from such a sale, but whether or not either Bournemouth or Crystal Palace come up to that valuation is yet to be seen.
Interestingly Ollie Watkins only scored 10 goals in 45 Championship appearances, however he did chip in with an additional five assists – which in all contributed to the west London side finishing outside of the playoffs by six points in ninth position.
The Bees did utilise Watkins on the left last season, so the potential could be significantly improved should he be used as a number nine with Brentford or one of the Premier League clubs interested this upcoming campaign.
Back in 2015, Watkins was playing non-league football with Weston-Super-Mare, before breaking into the Exeter first team and subsequently on to Brentford. A move to the Premier League would undoubtedly draw comparisons with Leicester and England ace Jamie Vardy who also took the non-league route to the top of the game.
Brentford hold all the cards if Palace and Bournemouth are genuinely interested, with the club having an option to extend Ollie Watkins’ contract by another year – and the 22-year old already has three more years left on his current deal.
