Manchester United are hoping to sign Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins this summer and the England international has already been compared to Liverpool icon Mo Salah
New Manchester United signing Bryan Mbeumo has already given his backing to their potential move for Ollie Watkins – who could become the Reds’ equivalent of Mo Salah. Watkins, 29, featured alongside Mbeumo during their time together at then-Championship outfit Brentford in the 2019-20 campaign.
The attacking partnership netted a total of 40 goals as the Bees came agonisingly close to securing promotion to the Premier League, ultimately falling short in the play-off final against Fulham.
United are now eager to bring the pair back together, with The Manchester Evening News understanding that Watkins has emerged as the Reds’ primary target as they hunt for a new striker.
Whilst Aston Villa maintain privately that Watkins is not available at any cost, United are confident that a transfer could be completed for somewhere between £40million and £45m, reports the Mirror.
Such a fee would represent significantly less than the £71m which Ruben Amorim’s team agreed to fork out to Brentford for Mbeumo at the start of this month. The 25-year-old holds Watkins in high regard, drawing comparisons between him and Salah during a Sky Sports interview back in 2020.
Brentford’s attacking trio at that point, which also featured Said Benrahma, were being likened to Liverpool’s legendary forward line of Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.
“Said would be Roberto Firmino, very attacking, a good finisher,” Mbeumo said.
“I think it would be hard to say who is who among Mo Salah and Sadio Mane but I would probably be Mane and Ollie would be Salah.”
Watkins was flattered by the comparisons, saying: “They are unbelievable, some of the best in the world and it’s nice to always be compared to players of that stature. But I feel like we are compared to any front three that score a lot of goals. “.
That summer, Brentford offloaded Watkins to Villa in a transfer worth up to £33m and he’s subsequently netted 87 goals across five campaigns. The England international’s established Premier League pedigree has elevated him to the summit of United’s wishlist.
The Reds have backup options, though, including Benjamin Sesko, while reports have claimed the club are also interested in Randal Kolo Muani. Departures will prove crucial in securing a deal for any forward, with United still needing to shift the bulk of Amorim’s five-man ‘bomb squad’ who haven’t travelled on their pre-season tour of the USA.
Marcus Rashford has joined Barcelona on loan with an option to buy whilst Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia remain at the club.
Old Trafford bosses are also willing to offload Rasmus Hojlund, who was courted by Inter Milan before they pivoted to Parma striker Ange-Yoan Bonny.