Manchester United have made an approach for Aston Villa ace Ollie Watkins amid their hunt for a new centre-forward, with a trusted source revealing how much he might cost.
Rasmus Hojlund is the current No 9 at Old Trafford, with Man Utd having agreed a £72million deal to sign him in August 2023. Hojlund had a productive first season with United but declined during the 2024-25 campaign.
The Dane managed 10 goals in all competitions but only four of these came in the Premier League, leaving head coach Ruben Amorim seriously underwhelmed.
Amorim has instructed United transfer chiefs Jason Wilcox and Christopher Vivell to replace Hojlund with a deadlier striker who can fire his team up the Premier League table.
The Red Devils held talks for Liam Delap but were snubbed as he opted to join Chelsea and play in next season’s Champions League.
United are rivalling Arsenal for Viktor Gyokeres but must have alternatives in mind in case he heads to the Emirates.
The Athletic’s United correspondent Laurie Whitwell has revealed that Watkins has been ‘shortlisted’ as a target by Amorim’s side.
United have taken preliminary steps towards signing the England star by making a ‘call’ to Villa to ‘check’ on his availability.
This ‘contact’ was made via intermediaries to ‘explore the prospect of a deal’. United want to know whether Villa would consider selling Watkins and if the player would be open to moving to Old Trafford.
Arsenal held talks for Watkins in January and valued him at £40million (€47m / $55m). But Villa held out for £60m (€70m / $82m) and Whitwell reports they still want this higher figure before selling.
The Villans justify this significant price tag through the fact Watkins is at the peak of his powers and is one of the best strikers in the Premier League, while his contract also runs for another three years.
While Watkins could elevate United’s attack straight away, club chiefs must debate this £60m outlay as they would be spending big money on a player who would not have much resale value in 3-4 years’ time.
Watkins would likely be enticed by the prospect of playing for arguably England’s biggest club in United. However, he would be swapping Villa’s upcoming Europa League campaign for no European football with United.
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The report explains how United originally looked at Watkins in the summer of 2023, prior to Hojlund joining. Then manager Erik ten Hag opted to go for Hojlund’s potential over a proven striker, but Amorim now wants to head in the complete opposite direction.
Watkins has scored 87 goals in 223 appearances for Villa since joining the club in September 2020.
He has adapted into a top-class Premier League forward since stepping up from Brentford and was particularly efficient in the 2023-24 campaign, netting 19 league goals and 27 in all competitions.
There is an open line of communication between Villa and United following Marcus Rashford’s loan move and it will be interesting to see if this results in a deal for Watkins.
As mentioned previously, Gyokeres is also in United’s sights. The Swede is Amorim’s No 1 target up front as the pair worked together at Sporting CP.
Recent reports suggest it is ‘a matter of time’ before Gyokeres leaves Sporting, with United trying to sign him before Arsenal.
If Arsenal opt to bring in Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig instead, then this will give United a much better chance of signing Gyokeres.
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