Ollie Watkins has an £18 million release clause in his contract with Crystal Palace now planning a bid for the West Ham and Leeds United target, according to the Mirror.
Any hopes Brentford had of keeping an exciting crop of players together appear to have gone up in smoke thanks to their play-off final no-show.
The usually-buzzing Bees were gripped by fear as they lost to a Joe Bryan-inspired Fulham at Wembley, with that much-vaunted ‘BMW’ strikeforce stalling badly on the biggest of stages.
As a result, there is a very real chance that Said Benrahma has played his final game in Brentford colours, while Bryan Mbeumo and Ethan Pinnock are also expected to attract plenty of offers from elsewhere.
Watkins, meanwhile, has an £18 million release clause in his contract which has come into effect after the West Londoners were consigned to another season of Championship football.
The Mirror claims that a goal-shy Crystal Palace side are now set to make an offer, having missed out on a £10 million deal for Watkins this time last year.
The same publication (2 August, page 67) claims that Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds are also huge fans of a winger-turned-striker who has scored a stunning 26 goals in 50 appearances since being thrust into a more central role by Brentford boss Thomas Frank.
West Ham are long-term admirers too, with Watkins ticking plenty of boxes for David Moyes.
The Hammers boss is hoping to build a squad full of hungry, homegrown talent and is expected to raid the Championship again after the success of Jarrod Bowen at the London Stadium.
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