Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins has now been sent a warning after Ivan Toney returned for Brentford.
If Aston Villa didn’t have Ollie Watkins, god knows where they would be.
Like Mohamed Salah is to Liverpool and Erling Haaland is to Manchester City, Watkins is vital to how Villa play and his scoring record speaks volumes of his importance.
The Englishman has plundered 14 goals and supplied 10 assists in all competitions this term with nine of those strikes coming in the Premier League.
Man City have proven they can adapt without Haaland, Liverpool still have firepower in Salah’s absence, but it would be detrimental to Villa’s season if Watkins were to get injured.
As a focal point and chief creator of chances, the 28-year-old is irreplaceable and as Jhon Duran has found out, he’s almost an immovable object.
With Euro 2024 on the horizon, the Villa marksman is playing himself into Gareth Southgate’s plans.
Watkins knows Harry Kane will be selected over him, however, a place in the squad is the least he deserves for such blistering form.
Journalist Tom Collomosse, though, believes that Watkins should be concerned about his place in the England squad after watching Ivan Toney return for Brentford.
Ollie Watkins place in the England squad could be at risk
Although he’s been in excellent form for over a year, Collomosse believes that Gareth Southgate prefers Toney over the Aston Villa star.
When asked about whether he should be concerned about his place in the England squad via Daily Mail’s Q&A, he replied: “He should be – but not because of his performances for Villa, which have remained consistent.
“I have the impression that Gareth Southgate has never trusted him entirely. When Watkins was picked for the games against Australia and Italy last autumn, Southgate said he needed to be careful of ‘recency bias’, even though Watkins had been excellent for a year.
“Southgate’s ambivalence means Watkins has little margin of error.”
Gareth Southgate has an agenda against Watkins
During his time as England manager, it’s become clear that Southgate has his favourites.
He will often pick players based on their previous exploits with the Three Lions rather than their current form.
The main examples of that are Mason Mount and Harry Maguire. Although the pair were out of favour and out of form at their clubs, they’d still somehow worm their way into the England squad.
A similar narrative is playing out with Watkins. The Villa striker is in the form of his life but has rarely had the opportunity to impress for the national side.
He was benched for recent European qualifiers against Italy and Malta but played 58 minutes in the 1-1 draw against North Macedonia.
Although he failed to impress on that occasion, having Kane above him in the pecking order doesn’t help.
He’s one of, if not, the best striker on the planet and in most other generations, Watkins would be England’s starting striker.
The Villa man has been hugely unfortunate not to have been given more chances and while Toney may have returned to action for Brentford, that shouldn’t put Watkins’ place in the England squad at risk.
