Tottenham legend David Pleat has revealed that he wanted the club to sign Ollie Watkins.
Watkins, now a striker for Aston Villa, began his professional career at then League Two side Exeter City.
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After winning the EFL Young Player of the Year award with the Grecians in 2017, he caught the attention of numerous top English clubs.
Eventually, Watkins signed for then Championship team Brentford in the summer of that year.
But Watkins had also attracted interest from the Premier League – and former Tottenham manager and talent scout Pleats said Tottenham were one of the clubs interested in him.
Speaking on The Pitch Prospect’s Sunday Edition, he said: “I was interested in Ollie Watkins when he was at Exeter.
“Much earlier [he was a striker]when he was a box-to-box player, with excellent leadership from Paul Tisdale and Steve Perryman.
“Back then, I really wanted him to come to Spurs. He wasn’t a centre-forward back then.”
In the 2016/17 season, his last at Exeter, Watkins was a versatile striker who scored 16 goals and provided 13 assists in 52 appearances.
With him in attack, the Grecians lost 2-1 to Blackpool in the play-off final – and Pleat, who played a role in the signing of young talent Dele Alli from MK Dons, remembers the occasion.
He continued: “He played up front in a play-off final at Wembley, where he didn’t play particularly well.”
This summer, Watkins moved to Dean Smith’s Brentford for a transfer fee of £1.8 million.
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“When he went to Brentford he didn’t play up front at all,” Pleat continued. “He was wide left or in midfield with a lot of energy but he never showed the ability to play as a striker.”
Watkins then developed into a real striker and formed the Bees’ “BMW” – the attacking line consisting of Said Benrahma, Watkins and Bryan Mbeumo under Thomas Frank.
After the Bees missed out on promotion, Watkins was sold to Aston Villa, rejoining former Bees boss Smith.
Pleat continued: “But Dean Smith took the chance anyway, Smith knew him well and for £28m Villa obviously got a very good centre-forward.”
The England international has scored 70 goals in 171 appearances for Villa in all competitions.
He became a national hero at the 2024 European Championship when he scored a stunning late goal in the semi-final against the Netherlands.
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