Cardiff refused to fork out £2m on goal ace Watkins, says Warnock
NEIL Warnock has claimed he tried to sign in-form Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins while in charge at Cardiff City, but the Bluebirds board refused to fork out the £2m asking price.
The Exeter City product rose to prominence at St James Park, where he largely played out wide but scored a bundle of goals for the League Two club.
Warnock, who left his post at Cardiff City a year ago after three years in charge, was a keen admirer of Watkins and wanted to bring him to the Welsh capital in the summer of 2017.
However, the former City boss claims that Cardiff were unwilling to spend the money and Watkins ended up signing for Championship rivals Brentford for a reported £1.8m.
His form and reputation skyrocketed with the Bees, for whom he was largely deployed as the frontman, and following a 26-goal season last year, he earned a £30m switch to Premier League outfit Aston Villa this summer.
And Warnock has come out to issue a reminder to the Bluebirds board that the £2m saving they made three years ago may well have turned out to be a £30m mistake.
“I tried to get Cardiff to sign Watkins at Exeter but they thought £2m was too much,” the manager told TeessideLive.
“He went for £2m and then £30m (to Aston Villa in the summer).
“I always saw him as a striker even though he was playing out wide.
“I’m always looking at lower levels.
“I rang Mehmet (Dalman, Cardiff chairman) up recently and said, ‘just remind Vincent (Tan, Cardiff owner) when he went for £30m and we could have had him for £2m’.”
City did end up forking out money to bolster their forward options that summer, with Lee Tomlin, Danny Ward, Omar Bogle, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Callum Paterson – who was originally signed as a right back – all coming in to the club that summer.
And missing out on Watkins certainly didn’t appear to hinder the Bluebirds, who embarked on an incredible promotion charge that season which saw them elevated to the Premier League.
But, as is always the case when missed transfers come to light, there is always a sense of what might have been with a talent like Watkins having slipped through the fingers.