What did Fowler say?
Writing for the Mirror, [coach 2] revealed, “I look at him, and I see a striker who is prepared to learn, prepared to work. In fact, I spotted last year his work rate is incredible, and [coach 524237] says he’s the best pressing centre forward in the league.
“To me that’s significant. Because what do the top teams want? A forward who performs a crucial pressing role. [team 9], Liverpool, [team 14], [team 18]. They all want a striker who performs the press with energy and intelligence, and does more than one job.
“Of course, they’d like one who scores too, but it’s not just about goalscoring any more. Far from it. Look at [player 1461] at Liverpool, look at City without a recognised number nine, and Chelsea sticking with [player 31823].
“I’m not trying to sell Watkins – honestly Villa fans! – but he’s taken the step up every time so far, and I can see him doing it again. To the very top level, if he can keep the trajectory of his work rate, attitude and mentality.
“Interestingly, Jurgen Klopp absolutely sang his praises a few weeks ago, and you can definitely see someone with his pressing ability – and the stats to go with it – doing well under that sort of manager.
“And believe me, clubs like City and Liverpool with their massive analytics departments will have run those stats many times already.”
“Many people said the £28m Villa paid for Watkins was a gamble. Some said it was crazy. It looks neither now, and you wonder if it may just have been a shrewd investment.
“I think he’ll go to the [league 1326] with [team 18645], and I think he’s ready to step up again.”
What has Jurgen said about the Villa striker?
Ahead of Liverpool’s late win against Villa on 10th April, [coach 455353] was asked about his views on Ollie Watkins.
The Liverpool manager said, “As a player, you need these kinds of moments. Ollie is a really, really talented striker.
“Obviously the manager (Dean Smith) knew him from before and it was a really good signing. The whole Brentford attacking line was exceptional in the Championship season before.
“So that suits really well, he’s physically strong so he can keep the ball, he can jump high, he is very fast – that’s a good package.
“Nobody has to remind me how good he is but how we always try to defend strikers, we try to avoid passes into their area. With him, that’s not different than it is to others.”
Will Liverpool be able to go big this summer?
[team 8] recently announced a pre-tax loss of £46m. Also, multiple reports claimed that by the time fans will be back in the stadium, the loss may reach up to £120m.
Keeping those financial troubles in mind, it’s hard to believe Liverpool will be signing any big money player this season. Watkins’s price tag will be near around to what Liverpool paid for [player 159917] last summer. [player 160258] is another player who could be moving to Liverpool this summer. However, the price that [team 71] will demand could exceed Liverpool’s budget.
Liverpool’s front three have had a horrible season. Although, it’s hard to say a lot about it since the whole club have had an unexpectedly below-par season. It looks improbable that they will be in the [league 2] next season. Not being in Europe’s elite club competition could prove to be a further barrier to attract players.
In that case, [player 12145] does make sense since he is not going to be in Europe at all with [team 15]. Also, he has had an exceptional first season in the [legue 8] after his surprisingly big move from [team 236]. However, with the financial mess at most of the top clubs, it’s hard to see any significant moves this summer.
