While Tottenham star Harry Kane continues to hunt down the goal-scoring record for England, one of his Three Lions teammates could well have been playing alongside him at club level: Ollie Watkins.
The 26-year-old was initially reported to be of interest for Spurs back in the summer of 2020 when Jose Mourinho was still in charge, and Football.London’s Alasdair Gold admitted at the time that the striker’s arrival in north London would tick a lot of boxes.
He said: “This makes more sense than the Benrahma links, with the 24-year-old Englishman having struck 26 goals in the Championship this season for Brentford.
“With his homegrown status he ticks a few boxes and could prove to be an exciting back-up or partner for Kane. As with Eze though, it would be all about that game time and other Premier League clubs would be able to offer more. Brentford reportedly value him and Benrahma at more than £25million each which would put off Spurs.”
Watkins would of course instead make the switch to fellow Premier League side Aston Villa where he has blossomed into a star earning international honours with England – the striker was of course on the score-sheet against Ivory Coast in mid-week when he started in place of the rested Kane.
In September of 2021, it was suggested that Spurs were back in for the Three Lions ace as they looked to bolster their attacking options, but once again, couldn’t strike a deal for the 26-year-old.
The striker was a key reason behind Villa’s successful campaign last year, bagging 16 goals in all competitions and netting in home and away fixtures against Liverpool (including a hat-trick at Villa Park) and also against Arsenal.
This season has seen him continue to be a fine performer for Steven Gerrard’s side, netting seven times in the top-flight, and scoring against the likes of Manchester City and Spurs themselves.
Dubbed a “machine“, the £75k-a-week earning Watkins has proven himself to be a fine Premier League striker in his time at Villa Park, and it certainly comes off as a bit of a disaster that Spurs saw two attempts at signing him fail to materialise.
The £34m-rated star would have been a perfect foil for Kane at Spurs.
AND in other news – Left for £0, now worth £40m: Spurs suffered huge howler over “very explosive” U21 star