Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard isn’t completely sold on Ollie Watkins and could replace the striker this summer.
At least, that’s what Dean Jones, the journalist, has revealed to Give Me Sport.
Earlier this summer, Watkins, a £33 million signing under Dean Smith, was heavily linked with a transfer to Arsenal but the Gunners wound up signing Gabriel Jesus.
Gerrard benched him for the Villans’ Premier League opener last weekend, a game they lost to Bournemouth.
And Jones has revealed that the former Liverpool midfielder isn’t entirely convinced by the former Bees’ marksman.
He told Give Me Sport: “It’s an interesting story and one thing that has become clear to people close to Aston Villa over the course of this year is that Gerrard has some reservations about Watkins, so it would not be a surprise to see him replaced.”
Honestly, selling Watkins wouldn’t be a very intelligent thing to do by Aston Villa.
Even if Gerrard wants an upgrade, keeping the English striker is definitely the smart thing to do.
That’s because if his replacement is a foreign import who needs time adapting to Premier League football, having a tried-and-tested plan b in the form of Watkins is massively important.
Aston Villa have enjoyed a good transfer window thus far, but losing someone like Watkins during the final three weeks of it would be questionable, it has to be said.
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