‘Sort of player I think Spurs should be looking for’: Pundit hails £22m forward once compared to Ronaldo

Add as preferred source on Google

Reported Tottenham Hotspur target Ollie Watkins has been praised by talkSPORT pundit Perry Groves, describing the 24-year-old as just the type of player Spurs should be looking at.

According to The Sun on Sunday (6 September, page 61), Tottenham are planning to pip fellow Premier League side Aston Villa to the signature of the Brentford forward.

Spurs boss Jose Mourinho is reported to be on the lookout for a new forward this summer and is said to have earmarked Watkins as a potential option.

According to the outlet, that both clubs will have to pay in the region of £22million to tempt Brentford into a sale, with Watkins said to be after a salary £70,000-a-week.

“He’s the sort of player I think Spurs should be looking for,” former Arsenal man Groves told talkSPORT at the weekend.

“He’s raw, he’s got potential, he’ll be patient, he’ll get his chances at Spurs, can learn off one of the best in Harry Kane, if Kane moves on or gets injured, he’s in.”

Amid a suggestion saying Watkins would want to play first-team football, Groves said: “You can’t turn down a chance to go to, it pains me to say, a big club.

“Everybody knows they need a centre-forward… I don’t know how much money Spurs have in today’s market, but £20million to £25million for a player like that, if he goes to Spurs and it doesn’t work, you’ll still get your money back.”

TBR View:

Last summer, Brentford manager Thomas Frank moved Watkins from out wide to up front in wake of Neal Maupay’s move to Brighton.

This proved a masterstroke as he netted 26 league goals from 49 games – all of the Championship regular-season games plus playoffs.

“He’s like a Ronaldo-type, that he can play as a nine or he can play to the side, or he can play as a 10, but because he’s so versatile he has abilities you can benefit off in all positions,” Frank told the Wandsworth Times last August.

Aside from having shown his class, Watkins’ versatility could also make him a great fit for Mourinho’s 4-3-3 system.

And with Tottenham in Europe and hoping to challenge in the upper echelons of the table next season, they’d surely be a tempting proposition for the player.