Ollie Watkins is enjoying his best-ever season at Brentford, and is in a fierce tussle with Aleksandar Mitrovic for the Championship Golden Boot. The Englishman, whose idol is Thierry Henry, has played across all the attacking positions, but it is only recently that he has been rebranded as a centre-forward to deadly effect. Needless to say, Watkins has attracted interest from Premier League clubs and could end up being sold to the top flight if the Bees fail to achieve promotion this season.
In his first full season in charge at Griffin Park, Thomas Frank has outdone
his predecessor Dean Smith and installed his own identity in the Brentford
team. The main thing that the Danish coach has been lauded for is the side’s
attacking philosophy, and many pundits would agree that the Bees’ front three
of Watkins, Said Benrahma, and Bryan Mbeumo is the deadliest strike force in
the division. “BMW” has even been referred to as the Championship’s
version of Liverpool’s attacking trident of Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, and
Roberto Firmino.
One of Frank’s most successful decisions to date was to move Watkins from his previous role as a winger, and rebrand him as an out-and-out centre-forward. This switch led to much higher returns from the 24-year-old. In the entire 2018-19 season, Watkins notched ten goals and six assists. After just 36 games this season, the player has scored 22 goals and made three assists, although he has played slightly more minutes in the league this season. Mitrovic, generally considered to be the star striker in the division, has managed 23 in the same timeframe. Now, the two players are in a tight scrap to see which one of them can end up on top.
It seems fair to say that, no matter what, Watkins is destined to be playing
in the top flight next season. Brentford have a strong chance of achieving
promotion, but if this doesn’t happen he is likely to be sold to a bigger club.
Crystal Palace have reportedly shown interest in the past, and rumours
suggest that Roy
Hodgson tried to sign Watkins last January. The Eagles are desperate for a
proven goal scorer, with Jordan Ayew only managing seven goals in his first
27 games of the campaign. Palace are one of the lowest scoring sides in
the league, and as such can be backed at 150/1 in the
Premier League betting to finish in the top six. With Hodgson’s side fairly
solid in other areas, a player like Watkins could be exactly what they need to
push up the table next term.
Brentford are set for an exciting and tense run-in as they battle for
promotion to the Premier League. They have been one of the best teams to watch
this term, and this has been in part thanks to the brilliance of Watkins. If
the Bees end up staying in the second tier next term, it is likely that their
attack force will be broken up. A player with Watkins’s ability is not going to
stay in the Championship for long.
