Chelsea now hold an interest in signing Aston Villa centre-forward Ollie Watkins.
That is according to well-respected journalist Simon Phillips.
Phillips has claimed on his Substack that Chelsea are interested in Ollie Watkins during this summer transfer window.
He explains that the 27-year-old striker has emerged as “a new target” this week for the Blues.
Apparently, Chelsea have now discussed the England international internally. There’s not been any kind of approach made yet to Villa or the player himself, though.
In addition, Unai Emery’s side wouldn’t let their star attacker go without a fight and could look to price him out of leaving Villa Park.
So, Watkins is a very intriguing name now added to the list of potential targets this summer.
Signed for £28million by Villa a few years ago (BBC), Watkins has started to establish himself as a consistent player in the top division.
There’s no doubt his game elevated since he started working alongside highly-rated manager Emery, too.
The English frontman finished last season with a great total of 15 Premier League goals, one more than Arsenal’s talented poster boy, Bukayo Saka.
We certainly liked what we saw from Chelsea’s new striker Nicolas Jackson on his debut against Wrexham, so it’ll be interesting to see how he fares during the rest of pre-season against tougher opponents in the next couple of weeks.
The 22-year-old could end up being a solid option for Pochettino to go into the new season with. Also, there’s talented attacker Armando Broja to throw into the equation once he’s fully fit again.
There’s no doubting Watkins looked a great goalscoring threat last season in the Premier League, but we’re not totally convinced he’s the kind of profile required.
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