Not against Watkins, I thought he would be free or a low fee. £60m is way too much! Would be happy to have him as a squad player at £15-20m max and even that is a bit too high
Ollie Watkins | United possibly interested
- Thread starter Berbaclass
- Start date
He has been a consistent 15 + 10 forward for the last 3 seasons, no way he is that bad to be worth £15m or so.
If we think it’s going to *hopefully* take us 2/3 years to get back to challenging then someone like Watkins is a great signing. He’s a good premier league striker who is more than capable to score the goals we desperately need to stop being quite so shit.
We can add further quality around the squad every summer and then when he’s 32/33 we can upgrade on him, or who knows maybe Chido Obi really steps up.
We’re in a marathon not a race. We won’t be nailing absolutely every single position with 10/10 long term signings every time. Some can be 7/10s. And he would be.
Only if the price and deal is right however.
We can add further quality around the squad every summer and then when he’s 32/33 we can upgrade on him, or who knows maybe Chido Obi really steps up.
We’re in a marathon not a race. We won’t be nailing absolutely every single position with 10/10 long term signings every time. Some can be 7/10s. And he would be.
Only if the price and deal is right however.
Kind of agree. It's a good policy to target young players with resale value, but we have to have a mix. We've seen Hojlund, young raw player, he's been here 2 seasons now and not done anything of real note. Bringing in a proven, experienced PL striker, could be a good idea. He's 29, you'd be looking at probably 3 yrs of him still at his best. The contract would have to be tailored correctly though, no more Casemiro style contracts. Villa apparently need money, so hopefully we'd get him less than the current number being bandied about. I wouldn't be against, this if a deal can be done.
Id swap him for rashford. Both clubs putting 40m down on PSR, happy days
A marathon is a race, "not a sprint".
I reckon Watkins would be a very shrewd signing for ye, definitely 3-4 more good years in him, proven premier league quality, even in not a great Utd side I'd back him to get 15+ goals if he plays every week. He's 29, but that can be the start of a peak couple of years for some strikers, 50m(ish) sounds fair to me.
£40m yes, more no. He's a reliable-ish 15 goal striker but doesn't add much quality of football beyond that. And he's 29 - we're getting three years tops at this level out of him, and no resale value.
Great signing at the right price, not one to be held hostage over.
Great signing at the right price, not one to be held hostage over.
They will ask for stupid money .
Jesus christ we are addicted to being average
Even if Rashford was interested in this, his massive wages would be the issue.
Works for a deep discount. Villa will need to play ball - I think he's had some more injuries of late and he's getting on. But with a week between games he can be a strong pickup.
Rashford might need to suck it up if we wants to kick a ball anytime in the next 2 years. Barca won't be offering this sort of wage either.
Straight swap with Rashford please. Would take that deal anyday. Even without that, I wouldn't mind spending up to 40m on him. Class player imo. Proven goalscorer with PL pedigree.
I was just at Glastonbury. Sayings aren’t currently my forte.
Is he the senior striker we want to take pressure off Hjolund and Zirkzee?
Not ideal but there doesn’t seem to be another option in the market. Unless we target Mateta.
Not ideal but there doesn’t seem to be another option in the market. Unless we target Mateta.
Reminds me of when Liverpool were buying Danny Ings and Charlie Adam.
Agree entirely - Watkins may not be as trendy as some of the other names bandied around here, but we'd be mad to say no at a reasonable price.
Really don't understand comments like this...
Watkins is streets ahead of both as a player, let's not be silly now.
It does feel like we've reached the "throw shit at the wall and see what sticks" phase.We are already at the Ollie Watkins phase of the transfer window...Jesus Christ!
What do the recruitment people at the club even do between February and May? By the time the season ends they should have a plan A, plan B, plan C, plan D, etc. identified for every position and should have already started the legwork on talking to players and clubs through intermediaries. Feels like we always get to the point where our plan A doesn't work out and we don't know where to go from there.
The fact so many are onboard with this probably highlights where we are as a club.
Looks like we won’t have any special signings this summer.
Looks like we won’t have any special signings this summer.
He's a proven PL goalscorer and we very badly need just that. For the right price, why wouldn't folks be onboard with it?
Spending significant money on a 29 year old Watkins would even more incompetent than simply not buying any CF this summer.
Because at least in the latter case you still have that money to spend next summer, on a solution who isn't the exact short-term, no-future signing someone like Rangnick was warning the club to avoid years ago. It would be remarkably grim if the club haven't learned that most basic of lessons by now.
"He's 29 so he has 3 or 4 peak years left" is hopeful nonsense. Most strikers age out from their best before that. If you think you're getting three years of his current level from him then you're betting against the odds, based on nothing.
Unless there's a massive discount on the price they wanted from Arsenal just a few months ago, it would be a braindead signing.
Because at least in the latter case you still have that money to spend next summer, on a solution who isn't the exact short-term, no-future signing someone like Rangnick was warning the club to avoid years ago. It would be remarkably grim if the club haven't learned that most basic of lessons by now.
"He's 29 so he has 3 or 4 peak years left" is hopeful nonsense. Most strikers age out from their best before that. If you think you're getting three years of his current level from him then you're betting against the odds, based on nothing.
Unless there's a massive discount on the price they wanted from Arsenal just a few months ago, it would be a braindead signing.
Watkins relies on his power and workrate - both of which will rapidly decline given his age.
Hojlund is also better at running in behind than hold up play yet we have spent all season jus jumping it to him and praying for a miracle.
I can't see the logic or the footballing sense in pursuing Watkins at this stage of his career.
Good player - immense work rate and capable of being a reasonably good goalscorer. Just not the right signing for us at this point
Hojlund is also better at running in behind than hold up play yet we have spent all season jus jumping it to him and praying for a miracle.
I can't see the logic or the footballing sense in pursuing Watkins at this stage of his career.
Good player - immense work rate and capable of being a reasonably good goalscorer. Just not the right signing for us at this point
Because it’s settling for mediocrity.
Price is the thing, but what gets me is Watkins is Villa's only real striker, so assuming they sell him they are going to need to replace him with at least 1 maybe 2 strikers, so why are we not looking at those players, always seem to be we buy the playing not the next player.
TBH would rather bring Rashford back as an out and out 9 providing he can agree to stick to the straight and narrow.
TBH would rather bring Rashford back as an out and out 9 providing he can agree to stick to the straight and narrow.
Watkins isn't mediocre. He's no world-beater but he's a good PL centre forward. Having someone like him would elevate us significantly - he'd give us 15-20 goals a season and would also scare defences much more than Hojlund or the alternatives do. We really can't afford to get all snobby about what 'class' of player we deserve. He'd be great for us right now imo.
That would have been Delap
We've already got Cunha. If we are able to push Mbeumo through, then get rid of our dead weights, I'd say it'd be a good window.
Big if on the dead weight.
Probably. But someone like him being hyped as a possible signing sums up where we are at the club.
Off topic, but I'm not convinced a striker is a more pressing need than a centre midfielder. People will point out our goal record last season but it's in midfield where we are lacking imo. None of our cms fill me with any confidence when compared to the physicality that most Prem teams have in their squad.
This is a very valid post in regard to what you’re saying. The Watkins you are speaking of came and possibly left the building already. Unless you think he has Vardy’s durability, it’s a risk that you really shouldn’t be putting into your leading #9. As a #2? Sure.
Contextually, he would be what you hope for in a backup striker to your main.
Watkins is a decent player. We shouldn’t even be looking at decent for a leading #9.
I do think he’s declining slightly and wouldn’t be a good use of funds with his age and our alleged financial position but Watkins is being underrated in here. 22npg+A this season that just went by and 32 the season before. One of the top players in the division
A hard pass for me. We are not here to help Aston Villa with their PSR problems. Martinez and Watkin can stay there.
Is buying a player who lost his place in the Villa team to Marcus Rashford who we are trying to sell really buying wisely?
It would be a good start, but we'd still be left with an unbalanced squad in desperate need of a ST, CM, and GK.
Yeah that is a ridiculous comparison, of course he's not worth £60m but neither is he worth only £20m either
Agree re the CM anxiety - it's very possible that we get overrun on a regular basis in that area next season. Here's hoping Case rolls back the years, Ugarte shakes off last season's wobble, and Bruno continues to improve in the position (and quickly).
I don't see any reason that we couldn't get 2-3 good seasons out of him. Players' careers are getting longer and longer and Watkins hasn't shown signs of slowing down. I know that he's pretty reliant on his energy etc but I see no issue with picking him up for 40 million for 3-4 seasons, after which we'll have bought the brilliant #9 that we all want. I see nothing wrong with looking at decent for a leading 9 at this stage - we're a long way away from challenging and he would immediately improve us a good deal. Plus we (should) have a good number of goals coming from Cunha and Mbeumo as well. When you look at some of the more successful PL sides of the last few years, they don't all have truly excellent 9s. Liverpool haven't had one in forever. City have Haaland but before that made do with Jesus for a bit. Goons have fumbled the CF position for a while and ditto Chelsea. 'Decent' in that context is absolutely fine.
This is a bit hyperbolic. It's short-termism, but it's quite clearly not mediocrity considering only 6 players outscored him in the league.
He’s second only to Salah in goals and assists across the top five leagues in Europe the past two seasons apparently
Clearly not mediocre
Clearly not mediocre
Only if Watkins is considered "job done" on squad building. If the aim is to tide us over another season til we have the budget to get a much better player for the long term, then we're not settling.
In the last 3 years he has 60 goals and 35 assists in all competitions. I get the doubts over his age but can't understand all the posts calling him average or worse, he's a quality player and has hit double figures in the PL in every season he's been at this level.
He's far less of a risk than Gyokeres for me.
He's far less of a risk than Gyokeres for me.