Brentford’s Ollie Watkins was a reported target for Derby County.
According to a report in the Standard, Brentford are demanding £15 million for winger Ollie Watkins with Premier League duo Crystal Palace and Bournemouth keen on his services.
Should the Bees pocket such a figure for the 22-year-old, then Derby County can only have themselves to blame as they seemingly had the opportunity to sign the player while he was at Exeter City.
A report in The Sun (print edition, page 63, May 14, 2017) states that Derby were set to make a £3 million bid for the highly-rated youngster following his terrific campaign in League Two where he was named the EFL Young Player of the Year.
The Rams were in need of bolstering their wide options at the time, as Tom Ince unsurprisingly moved to the Premier League with Huddersfield Town, leaving the club extremely short on options.
With Johnny Russell leaving last January and Andreas Weimann recently joining Bristol City, Derby now only have two senior wingers on their books, prompting boss Frank Lampard to delve into the loan market.
Watkins ultimately joined Brentford for a reported fee of £1.8 million, as cited by the Standard, and such a fee can now be looked upon as an absolute bargain considering the London club’s new valuation of the player.
Derby, aside from being short on wide options, have little leeway in terms of making new signings as they look to comply with Financial Fair Play rules following a few seasons of poor recruitment and overspending.
Having a player valued at £15 million and attracting Premier League interest could make a huge difference to Derby’s fortunes this coming season, but unfortunately for them they opted not to sign Watkins when they had the chance.
The former Exeter man scored 10 goals and grabbed a further four assists in 39 Championship starts last season, bettering Tom Lawrence’s record who the Rams did sign for £7 million last summer (BBC).
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