Aston Villa and Leeds United have been tipped to make a move for Barnsley’s Marley Watkins – and the Tykes may have already identified a replacement.
Despite wildly differing campaigns, Leeds United and Aston Villa at least have one thing in common. Both are hugely over-reliant upon their talismanic top scorers, Chris Wood and Jonathan Kodjia.
And it’s fair to say neither side has been helped by a concerning lack of goals from elsewhere this season. Leeds’ top scoring midfielder, Pablo Hernandez, has just five while Jack Grealish has struck four times in Villa colours.
No wonder, then, that the duo are tipped to make a move for Barnsley’s Marley Watkins this summer. With ten Championship goals, not to mention seven assists, the 26-year-old scores and creates in equal measure and his performances at the Yorkshire club have not gone unnoticed.
The Daily Mail claims that Leeds are monitoring Watkins, who handed in a transfer request in January and will be out of contract in the summer. Meanwhile, Ladbrokes are offering odds of just 5/1 for Villa to snap up the former Swansea City youngster.
Free as a bird
And it appears that Barnsley are preparing for Watkins’ exit this summer. According to The Sun, they are interested in Cardiff City winger Kadeem Harris who, since Neil Warnock took over in South Wales, has been in superb form.
A natural wideman capable of playing on either flank, Harris would appear to be a sound replacement for Watkins. Furthermore, he too is out of contract this summer, meaning a move makes sense with Barnsley set to lose their key man on a free.
Therefore, speculation will intensify that The Tykes have given up hope of keeping Watkins at Oakwell. Which should spark Leeds and Villa into action.
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