England hero Ollie Watkins should be playing for West Ham not Aston Villa after a confession of regret from the man who snubbed him.
Aston Villa fans are bursting with pride after Ollie Watkins ghosted into the box to score the biggest goal of his career for England last night.
But it could and should have been West Ham supporters revelling in the magic moment which took the Three Lions into the Euro 2024 final against Spain.
West Ham fans have been frustrated at a lack of opportunity for Jarrod Bowen since he impressed during a cameo against Serbia.
Aston Villa fans have been in a similar situation with Watkins.
Most other football fans – including those of Premier League rivals West Ham – have shared Villa’s frustration given the form of Harry Kane.
Watkins and Bowen were pictured celebrating together after his 90th minute strike sealed a 2-1 win over Holland.
England goal fills Hammers as much regret as joy
That could have been a regular sight at club level too.
Because England hero Watkins should be playing for West Ham not Aston Villa after the confessions of the man who snubbed him.
On paper West Ham and Villa both have an excellent first XI comparable in quality.
But Villa managed to secure Champions League football last season while West Ham faded and dropped out of the European spots meaning there will be no football on the continent for the Hammers for the first time in four seasons.
And there is a nagging sense that having the right striker would have made all the difference.
West Ham might be where Villa are right now had they pushed to find a successor to ageing Michail Antonio.
So it’s hard to hear they very nearly did only for him to end up at Villa Park.
England hero Watkins should be playing for West Ham not Villa
Last season David Moyes twice opened up on his deep regret at West Ham missing out on Watkins to Villa.
The former Hammers boss was asked why he had not been able to find an heir to 34-year-old Antonio.
And the Scot admitted his biggest regret on that front is not getting Watkins.
West Ham fans who follow the club’s transfer window activity closely may remember the Hammers were linked with Watkins before he signed for Villa and again when Steven Gerrard was in charge.
But the Scot conceded England striker Watkins was one that got away for the Hammers.
“We’ve tried for years to find people that we believed might be right,” Moyes told the press, as reported by The Evening Standard at the time.
“If you look back over the last two or three years at the number of centre-forwards named (as targets) that might be coming here, there might be quite a lot of them that have failed and they wouldn’t have been any good.
“We’ve missed out on ones we would’ve like when you look back, maybe Ollie Watkins, people like that. But it’s a journey, sometimes you get it right and sometimes you don’t.”
Moyes confession hard to hear
It was not the first time Moyes had confessed to missing out on Watkins either.
After a 4-1 defeat to Villa last season – a game in which Watkins scored – Moyes made mention of the fact that’s hard to hear.
“Yeah, we did (make a move for Watkins) when he was at Brentford,” Moyes said – as reported by Birmingham World.
“He scored a good goal today.”
Well he certainly scored a good goal last night.
Word at the time was that Moyes felt Villa were overpaying by offering £30m for Watkins.
But it has proved a bargain and then some.
Moyes has earned the moniker ‘dithering Dave’ from his conduct over transfers at Everton and Man United.
For all the great work Moyes did in east London, it seems his famous transfer hesitancy cost the Hammers one of the finest strikers around.
Watkins’ goal will leave Hammers fans feeling mixed emotions as the club once again searches for a striker this summer.
Just imagine a front line of Bowen, Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Paqueta with Watkins the tip of the arrow.
What might have been.
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