Chelsea offer player plus cash for Aston Villa star and England hero Olle Watkins

Chelsea are reportedly ready to offer Aston Villa a player plus some cash to sign England hero Ollie Watkins this summer.

Watkins got 27 goals and 13 assists in a wonderful season for Villa last term, which earned him a place in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for Euro 2024.

He had featured for just 20 minutes before coming off the bench against the Netherlands in the semi-final but his lack of game time proved not to be a problem for the 28-year-old, who struck in the 90th minute to book England’s place in the final.

Villa boss Unai Emery and sporting director Monchi have been working hard to improve the Villa squad this summer, with Ian Maatsen, Samuel Iling-Junior, Lewis Dobbin, Enzo Barrenechea and Ross Barkley all joining, while Douglas Luiz and Tim Iroegbunam have left the club.

They’re also on the verge of agreeing a deal with Everton star Amadou Onana over a move to Villa Park , and Emery will be desperate to keep hold of Watkins as they prepare for Champions League football next term.

‘Marquee number nine’

Chelsea though are keen on adding a striker to their ranks to compete with Nicolas Jackson, and having held talks with Villa over Jhon Duran have now turned their attention to the Villans’ first choice striker, according to Football Insider .

The report claims the Blues want ‘a marquee number nine and are willing to push the boat out to sign the England international’.

Villa were keen on getting a deal done for Chelsea star Conor Gallagher earlier in the window and it’s thought Todd Boehly is offering the midfielder as part of the deal to land Watkins.

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‘Magnificent’ in front of Odegaard

Watkins has also been linked with Arsenal and former defender William Gallas reckons the striker would be “magnificent” playing in front of playmaker Martin Odegaard.

“For Arsenal, I like Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins,” Gallas remarked in an interview with Lord Ping.

“He has the pace you need to have as a striker and with a player like Martin Odegaard in behind him it would just be magnificent, think of all the assists. It’s so difficult to defend against players like Ollie Watkins because he’s so clever with his runs, with Odegaard they would do so much damage. If I was at Arsenal I’d choose him.”