Ollie Watkins’ form for Aston Villa has been nothing short of sensational this season.
The striker’s 14 goals and ten assists have played a massive part in Unai Emery’s side mounting a credible challenge for the Champions League.
Only Jarrod Bowen, Mo Salah and the goalscoring machine that is Erling Haaland have found the back of the net more regularly.
Per FotMob, Watkins’ xG (expected goals) of 13.6 once again puts him amongst the elite finishers in the league.
The Aston Villa striker can well and truly be classed among the best forwards in Europe.
With the European Championships in the summer, there’s no doubt the he will be part of Gareth Southgate’s squad.
However, with a certain Harry Kane occupying the number nine shirt, Watkins will almost certainly have to make do with a place on the bench.
Richard Dunne shares Ollie Watkins Euro verdict
In an interview with betideas.com, the former Villa defender Richard Dunne believes Watkins is one of the options to succeed Kane.
“Watkins is certainly one of the options to succeed Harry Kane at England,” he said.
“He runs really well, and he takes his chances, plus his movement and work rate are really good too. Strikers are always going to be judged on goals and his consistency in that respect has been really good, so I think he’s in with a great shout of being next in line.”
He added: “I think any English striker that isn’t Harry Kane goes through patches where they aren’t scoring, so for him, he just needs to keep his form up because he’s been outstanding. If he can continue that for the next year or two, then he’ll be one of a few strikers who will want that No. 9 jersey after Kane.”
Can Ollie Watkins succeed Harry Kane?
Unless Kane suffers an injury, it’s hard to anticipate anyone else starting up front for England. 27 goals and five assists in just 23 matches is an outrageous return in the Bundesliga.
He’s arguably the best striker in the world and will be impossible to shift out of Southgate’s thinking. However, with Kane now 30, a succession plan will have to be put in place.
Watkins and Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke are probably the primary options at present. Both are similar styles of forward, and Solanke has also been in excellent form this season. 14 goals for Andoni Iraola’s side matches that of Watkins.
However, this has been Solanke’s best return in the Premier League. Watkins has been hitting these sorts of numbers consistently.
When Kane calls time on his international career, Southgate only has one place to look.
