Ollie Watkins

[villabromsgrove]

I hoped that we would buy Benrahma last summer and was disappointed when it didn't happen. For that reason I made sure that I watched every televised Brentford game in the last season to keep up to date on whether Benrahma was really worth a punt this transfer window. On the evidence of the matches I watched he definitely is, but to my surprise the player that really caught my eye on a regular basis was Olly Watkins. He's made the switch from playing wide (of a front three) to striker seamlessly and his all round game has everything this Villa team needs. His athleticism and work rate is superb both on and off the ball. His positional awareness is excellent and of course he scores goals regularly.

Strong, excellent pace, 90 minute engine, top attitude and character, right age and appears to have the intelligence and desire to continue to improve. 

[nick76]

3 minutes ago, Rightdm00 said:

I would argue we aren't buying the same type. The 2 players we bought from the Champ last year were Jota and Konsa. Both good players at that level but neither would be considered top 5 or 10 of the championship. 

Now we are back again. Only this time we are looking at Watkins and/or Benhrama.  WhoScored had Benhrama as the top rated player and Watkins was 8th. Just to note Bowen was rated 5th and he comfortably made the step up to the Prem. So we have definitely stepped up our level.

We are still building out a squad of Prem quality players. You could argue we have 7 right now (Heaton, Mings, Konsa, Targett Luiz, McGinn, Grealish). The key for this window is to buy 4/5 players who will get us to a full 11. I think Watkins fits that profile. 

 

Yet with that team, that core, we basically finished 17th on the last game of the season having to get 8 points in the last four games.  You can argue a lot of things like injuries, changes in tactics and that we still avoided relegation but we need to improve otherwise we are going to fight relegation again.

Is Watkins better than Wes?  I know many will have a view on that in the extremes but it's debatable and maybe he is but it's a massive risk to risk our survival next season.

I think Watkins will be a great addition if he's not the only striker brought in but if it's Wes, Watkins, Samatta and Davis as our only strikers we are going to probably be battling relegation next season due to lack of goals.

[nick76]

3 minutes ago, tomav84 said:

you forgot conor, who put in some decent performances this season particularly post lockdown. i'd expect lansbury will leave, but i've not given up on marvelous.

i expect a CM might be on the shopping list, but much less of a priority

I love conor, always have but we know Conor is lost in some games.  He played really well in some of the lockdown games but to rely on him if we lose Luiz or McGinn to injury is not something I want.  Love to bring him on occasionally, even start occasionally but would be worried if we had a ten game streak with him in. 

[nick76]

Ok, I'm done with this thread until he signs or somebody else signs.

I have a habit of staying on a thread too long and debating.

My overarching opinion is that I really like the look of Watkins and would love to sign him on one condition.

 

If he was the only striker to sign then no thanks, if we brought a top notch striker and Watkins then I'm delighted.

[skarroki]

I would imagine the £100mil to spend has been leaked by the club as they have no issue in spending more than that but saying they only have a set amount to spend helps when negotiating on prices. If noone else is in for Benrahma and Watkins we could bring them in at a reasonable price that way. The stumbling blocks are

1. Is anyone else interested 

2. Are we actually interested 

I'm not sure about either of these. If it wasn't a player we all want, I'd say this is the laziest form of journalism / speculation. After players that Dean has bought previously that have had good seasons. It's just like the Douglas Luiz to Arsenal kind of rumour, nothing to suggest there's any interest other than manager / player have been at the same club at the same time previously. 

[Rightdm00]

1 minute ago, nick76 said:

Yet with that team, that core, we basically finished 17th on the last game of the season having to get 8 points in the last four games.  You can argue a lot of things like injuries, changes in tactics and that we still avoided relegation but we need to improve otherwise we are going to fight relegation again.

Is Watkins better than Wes?  I know many will have a view on that in the extremes but it's debatable and maybe he is but it's a massive risk to risk our survival next season.

I think Watkins will be a great addition if he's not the only striker brought in but if it's Wes, Watkins, Samatta and Davis as our only strikers we are going to probably be battling relegation next season due to lack of goals.

My opinion is that we finished 17th because we started far too many passengers. Move them to the bench and we easily move up the table. 

The knock on Wes, even from the Brugge fans who stopped by, was that he was more of a creator than a pure CF. We all saw that to be true as the season went on. So now I think the goal isn't to replace Wes but build an attacking front around him. Hence,  we will see at least one more  versatile attacker brought in along with Watkins. 

This will give Smith options in building out his front 3. Even allowing Jack to drop to the midfield given the opposition. Wes cost far to much and has had to little time for us to be at the point where we are considering another high dollar replacement for him. 

Unpopular opinion that it may be I would rather fill in the gaps around him and give him another season to come good. Watkins and another versatile attacker like him is exactly what we need. 

[skarroki]

If we had signed Belotti / Giroud this week and then these rumours surfaced I think this would be universally accepted as a good transfer. Shows how the order of your transfer business can have a real effect on how well received each incoming player is.

[Condimentalist]

18 minutes ago, villabromsgrove said:

I hoped that we would buy Benrahma last summer and was disappointed when it didn't happen. For that reason I made sure that I watched every televised Brentford game in the last season to keep up to date on whether Benrahma was really worth a punt this transfer window. On the evidence of the matches I watched he definitely is, but to my surprise the player that really caught my eye on a regular basis was Olly Watkins. He's made the switch from playing wide (of a front three) to striker seamlessly and his all round game has everything this Villa team needs. His athleticism and work rate is superb both on and off the ball. His positional awareness is excellent and of course he scores goals regularly.

Strong, excellent pace, 90 minute engine, top attitude and character, right age and appears to have the intelligence and desire to continue to improve. 

Thanks - that's reassuring given that you have probably watched him more than most. Would you say he is worth £25m? 

[Vive_La_Villa]

31 minutes ago, villabromsgrove said:

His athleticism and work rate is superb both on and off the ball. His positional awareness is excellent and of course he scores goals regularly.

I thought the same whenever I watched Brentford. A lot goes through Benrahma who drops deep and moves centrally but it’s Watkins that’s leads the line superbly.

[WakefieldVillan]

20 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Ok, I'm done with this thread until he signs or somebody else signs.

I have a habit of staying on a thread too long and debating.

My overarching opinion is that I really like the look of Watkins and would love to sign him on one condition.

 

If he was the only striker to sign then no thanks, if we brought a top notch striker and Watkins then I'm delighted.

That's exactly where I am with it too. I think he would be a great addition with versatility of being able to play wide and he seems the right sort of character which is also very important for the squad too. 

I'd take Watkins over El Ghazi, Trezeguet and Samatta all day so for me he's an improvement. I think £22M is about the right sort of fee and I think we will get him.

But I'm still holding out for Tammy too, and the likes of Benrahma, Eze, Sarr and Aarons. Then we would be set to go. I'm going to be well disappointed come the end of window.

 

 

 

[villabromsgrove]

Condimentalist, if transfer prices were still sane and reasonably sensible I would say that his value would be a genuine £15 million, but with the current over hyped prices for goal scorers (especially for English players) being the new 'normal' I would pay £25 million for him in a heart beat!

[Adam2003]

36 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Yet with that team, that core, we basically finished 17th on the last game of the season having to get 8 points in the last four games.  You can argue a lot of things like injuries, changes in tactics and that we still avoided relegation but we need to improve otherwise we are going to fight relegation again.

Is Watkins better than Wes?  I know many will have a view on that in the extremes but it's debatable and maybe he is but it's a massive risk to risk our survival next season.

I think Watkins will be a great addition if he's not the only striker brought in but if it's Wes, Watkins, Samatta and Davis as our only strikers we are going to probably be battling relegation next season due to lack of goals.

I don’t totally agree. If I spin the positives this team has shown that, having adapted to the Prem, it can grind out two points per game when it matters (we don’t need to keep that up, it’s CL form).

I believe Wesley (many don’t, I know) has plenty in the locker and would have scored 10+ goals. The issues was we went into the season with him as our only striker. Having another couple of options will, I think, really help.

Dont get me wrong I want us to buy the best striker we can find and I see real risks if, say, Jack leaves - but it wouldn’t be the worst to have that selection of strikers IF we also improve our wide attacking positions. (Even if we don’t I think a front three of Grealish-Wesley-Watkins would score more than a front three of Grealish-Wesley-AEG or AEG-Wesley-Trezeguet).

[Nicho]

31 minutes ago, skarroki said:

If we had signed Belotti / Giroud this week and then these rumours surfaced I think this would be universally accepted as a good transfer. Shows how the order of your transfer business can have a real effect on how well received each incoming player is.

Who thinks we are signing Giroud

[ender4]

14 minutes ago, WakefieldVillan said:

 

But I'm still holding out for Tammy too, and the likes of Benrahma, Eze, Sarr and Aarons. Then we would be set to go.

I'm going to be well disappointed come the end of window.

 

yes  i think so 

[RadioTom]

I really don't understand some of the negativity towards signing 'Championship players' on here. This time last year, McGinn and Grealish were Championship players...

[Vive_La_Villa]

Sheffield United now favourites to sign him.

[Vive_La_Villa]

2 hours ago, RadioTom said:

I really don't understand some of the negativity towards signing 'Championship players' on here. This time last year, McGinn and Grealish were Championship players...

And as I pointed out before 2 of the top 3 goal scorers last season once played in the championship. 

Everyone has to start somewhere! 

Edited August 6, 2020 by Vive_La_Villa

[Mjvilla]

I think if he ends up at a palace or a sheff utd, then it's because we didn't want him. The only way we don't get him if we want him is if he ends up at a spurs or the like.

Or Leeds because of Bielsa of course.

Just think, with the Smith connection, he's ours if we want him.

[GENTLEMAN]

Just now, Mjvilla said:

I think if he ends up at a palace or a sheff utd, then it's because we didn't want him. The only way we don't get him if we want him is if he ends up at a spurs or the like.

Or Leeds because of Bielsa of course.

Just think, with the Smith connection, he's ours if we want him.

Of interested Bielsa is yet to sign a contract extension. Stranger things have happened

[villakram]

Davis needs to go on loan somewhere and discover what it is like to score goals.

Wes is likely going to be well off the pace until after the new year given his injury.

Samatta... well, he runs about lots.

Sign this boy up!