Why Crystal Palace should go all out to sign Brentford’s Ollie Watkins
Back in July 2019, the Daily Mail had claimed that Crystal Palace were interested in signing Brentford forward Ollie Watkins. However, a deal didn’t go through and he stayed put at Brentford.
Ollie Watkins, 24, managed 12 goals and 9 assists for Brentford last season, helping the club to an 11th-place finish. The 24-year-old is in the form of his life this campaign and has already scored 18 goals in just 27 appearances.
He has led the line so impressively for Thomas Frank’s Bees. Keeping his goalscoring exploits in mind, Crystal Palace must revive their interest in Watkins.
Jordan Ayew has surprised with his performances this season but his consistency is questionable. Crystal Palace have been over-reliant on Wilfried Zaha and Luka Milivojevic for goals over the last two seasons but they have not lived up to the expectations this season. This has seen the Eagles struggle for goals, with them scoring just 22 goals in 24 games.
To solve the goalscoring woes, Roy Hodgson has brought in Cenk Tosun on loan from Everton until the end of the campaign. Whether or not Tosun scores a lot of goals remains to be seen (he has scored one so far), but going by his record of just 9 goals in 44 league games for Everton, the Turk cannot relied upon entirely.
To put things into perspective, Palace need more than Tosun if they are to achieve a top-10 finish this season, and Ollie Watkins would be a fantastic fit at Selhurst Park.
As per WhoScored, Watkins has averaged 2.8 shots per game, 1.6 key passes and 0.6 dribbles in 27 Championship appearances, apart from 18 goals and 3 assists. Palace’s top scorer this season with six goals, Ayew, has averaged 1.6 shots per game, 0.8 key passes and 1.7 dribbles in 21 Premier League appearances, as per WhoScored.
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When compared, Watkins appears to be a more complete player and in a much better form than Ayew. In fact, Watkins has scored three times more than what Ayew has conjured at Selhurst Park, although the Palace striker has played six games less than the Brentford man and in a more competitive league too.
Verdict
Watkins is one of the best players in the Championship at the moment and his goals have fired Thomas Frank’s men into promotion contest this season.
He’s a quality player, scores goals, and that is everything a forward needs to possess in his locker. Hence, Palace must secure his signature this month despite already signing Cenk Tosun.
