Crystal Palace offered The Bees £11m for Watkins in August – and Roy Hodgson’s Premier League outfit need a striker.
Ollie Watkins’ transformation from a jinking winger into a lethal centre-forward is complete.
In typical Brentford fashion, they used their brains rather than their wallet when top scorer Neal Maupay left for Brighton over the summer and, instead of reinvesting that £16 million windfall, manager Thomas Frank set about turning Watkins into a genuine number nine.
And The Bees, once again, are reaping the rewards for thinking outside the box. Watkins took his tally to seven goals in nine Championship games this season after scoring a hat-trick of headers in Sunday’s 3-1 win away at Barnsley.
So if Crystal Palace wanted Watkins when he was racing down the wings with chalk on his boots, The Eagles must be positively smitten now.
According to The Mail, Palace launched an £11 million bid for their long-time target in August but Brentford, who value Watkins at closer to £20 million (Sky), were never going to sell with Maupay leaving Griffin Park in the same summer.
But surely the Premier League outfit will return in January with Roy Hodgson’s side crying out for a centre-forward who comes alive inside the penalty box. Watkins would certainly be a welcome addition amongst a fanbase who are sick to the back teeth of the bumbling Christian Benteke.
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