Why Ollie Watkins would be a fantastic signing for Crystal Palace

Back in July, a report from Daily Mail had claimed Crystal Palace were interested in signing Brentford forward Ollie Watkins. However, no deal materialised during the summer window.

Ollie Watkins, 23, joined Brentford from Exeter City in the summer of 2017 after impressing in the lower leagues of English football. The forward has since established himself as one of the best young players in the Championship, scoring 10 goals and providing four assists in the 2017-18 season and finding the net 10 times and providing 8 assists last season.

So far this campaign, Watkins has scored eight goals in 13 Championship matches for Brentford. He is just three short of equalling his previous-best second-tier tally which exactly shows why Crystal Palace would be wise to reignite their interest in him during the winter transfer window.

Crystal Palace have struggled for goals in the past couple of seasons, with Wilfried Zaha carrying the club on his shoulders. The situation hasn’t changed for the Eagles this time around as well, although Zaha hasn’t been that effective. As things stand, the Ivorian is yet to break his duck.

Roy Hodgson must weigh up his options and to add more goals to his team. So far this season, no player has scored more than three goals for Palace.

This is why the Eagles boss should look at Watkins to fire his team up the league table in the second half of the season. The 23-year-old is currently impressing in the Championship, thriving under Thomas Frank at Brentford.

Predominantly a winger, Watkins can also operate as a centre-forward or in the number 10 role. He possesses great pace to stretch the opposition defence, especially on the counter. The Devon native is a good dribbler of the ball, can cross the ball well from wide areas and is a clinical finisher in front of goal.

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Add to that his high level of footballing intelligence, spectacular vision and a keen eye for setting up chances from the wide areas and it really isn’t rocket science to figure out as to why he is destined to achieve great things in the beautiful game.

Watkins has the quality and potential to enhance Palace’s attack, whilst adding competition for the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Andros Townsend and Jordan Ayew.

Verdict

A speedy, versatile forward, Watkins is exactly the kind of player Palace should target in January in order to solve their goalscoring problems. Certainly, Hodgson can get the best out of Watkins and take his game to the next level.