Football Insider have today dropped an exclusive which claims that Cole Palmer has “been trying to persuade Ollie Watkins to quit Aston Villa and sign for Chelsea this summer.”
The two have apparently struck up a strong friendship while on England duty together this summer. They certainly both had plenty of time on the bench to get chatting in Germany.
Their sources say that this connection “could be a key situation in turning Watkins’ head” and potentially causing him to start pushing for a move. The Villa number 9 has it all, speed, strength, technique and intelligence.
He runs in behind well, brings his teammates into play, and has a really solid eye for goal. It’s so clear to see how he would immediately upgrade this Chelsea team, and his connection with Palmer could really grow into something special given enough time.
Almost too convenient to be true
We just knew something like this was coming… Some transfer rumours are just so convenient that if they don’t exist yet, someone has to make them up.
That strikes us as just what’s happened here. The connection between Palmer and Watkins, especially after the former’s assist for the latter’s Euro semi final winner, was just too perfect for the media to ignore. Chelsea’s need for a really proven Premier League goalscorer fits perfectly too.
Sadly it’s just not going to happen – Watkins is too old and too expensive for our sporting directors to even consider. And Villa aren’t going to sell a key player just after they made it into the Champions League. The old Chelsea would have slammed £80m on the table and likely made sure Watkins started kicking up a fuss behind the scenes, but this isn’t the old Chelsea anymore.
Or Palmer could come to the Villa???