Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa
Rams raid? Villa and England striker Ollie Watkins
Aston Villa star Ollie Watkins has enjoyed a remarkable career with club and country, but he could have been a player if things had worked out differently.
Speaking after his brace had helped the Bees to a 3-0 Championship win over the at Griffin Park in August 2019, during the 2017 January transfer window, when Steve McClaren was in his second spell as manager.
Asked how close he came to signing from then club Exeter, Watkins said: "Yeah, really close - in the January transfer window.
"Steve McClaren wanted to sign me, and I wanted to go at the time. Then it kind of fell through - so it could have been a lot different!
"I could have been a Derby player, but I stayed at Exeter and things worked out for the better here at Brentford. It was just down to money, I think.
"Exeter wanted a little bit more money at the time, and a loan back, because we were doing well and ended up getting to the (League Two) play-off final that year. It didn't work out, unfortunately, but I'm glad I came to Brentford."
Watkins struck 26 goals in all competitions for Brentford in 2019/20, which earned him a move to Villa in what was at the time a club-record £28m fee.
Since then he has become a formidable striker in the Premier League having helped Villa into the Champions League, the season before last.
After arriving at Villa Park, he has gone on to score 75 goals in 184 league appearances. He has also won 18 caps with England.
Are there other players you can think of that Derby just missed out on?
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