According to journalist Simon Phillips, Chelsea are considering a January move to sign Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins.
The London giants bolstered their centre-forward department with the signing of Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal last summer, but he has yet to find consistency. The Senegal star has impressed with his work rate and movement in the final third, but has been prone to missing clear-cut scoring opportunities.
Christopher Nkunku could have been an option to play up front for manager Mauricio Pochettino, but the Frenchman is unavailable until next year with a serious knee injury. Speaking on his podcast, Phillips has now revealed that Watkins is one of the names being considered by Chelsea as they look to sign another striker.
He said: “Dusan Vlahovic was obviously looked at in the summer. He’s still there. Jonathan David from Lille. And the last one is Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa. Those are the names that I’ve been given this week that Chelsea are considering for the January window.”
Unlikely deal
Chelsea have splashed the cash on new signings since their takeover by Clearlake Capital Group. We saw another huge spending spree this summer with nearly £400 million spent on purchases. Despite this, the club are still lagging behind their Premier League rivals when it comes to the striking department.
The club have lacked the cutting edge in front of goal for some period of time. Raheem Sterling has been in good form individually, but there has been no support for him with the likes of Jackson, Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke yet to find their feet. Chelsea may now want a Premier League-based striker.
Watkins has been a good fit for the Villans in the English top-flight. Last season, he managed 16 goals for the Midlands clubs with 15 of those in the Premier League. His excellent form in the second half of the campaign was the catalyst behind Unai Emery’s side qualifying for the Conference League.
The Englishman has yet to find the net in the league, but he did score a fantastic hat-trick against Hibernian in the first leg of the Conference League play-off. He would be a proper signing for Chelsea, but Villa may not entertain losing their main striker at any price midway through the campaign.
