Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins knows his World Cup moment could be just around the corner despite playing zero minutes in England’s opening match against Croatia.
Watkins wrote himself into English football folklore two years ago when he came off the bench to score a last-minute winner against the Netherlands and send his country through to the Euro 2024 final.
He is back in familiar territory in North America – on the bench behind Harry Kane in a designated ‘finisher’ role.
“I feel like I understand the competition now, I understand that everyone has their moment, everyone has a part to play and, when I see other players having their moment, I’m really happy for them,” he said.
“I experienced mine at a great time, obviously in the semi-final, but leading up to that point, before everyone had a part to play in certain moments and I know that’s the same for this tournament as well.
“I feel like there’s no pressure on me to come on at the end of the day.
“I think the expectation for me is people don’t see me playing, obviously they see Harry playing, but I know what I can bring to the table.
“I watch the game when I’m on the bench, I can see the game opens up.
“It’s a completely different game when you start a game of football than when you finish it. I’ve experienced that as a substitute, there are so many more opportunities when you come on.
You scored
out of 20
“A lot of people are tired, they lose focus and sometimes it can be better to be a substitute than to start the game.
“I’ve spoken about it so many times before, I said I was going to score that day and I did.
“It’s the best feeling to come on and change the game and I’m hoping to do that again this tournament.”
Watkins’ place at the tournament looked in jeopardy when he was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad in March, but a sparkling run of form at the end of the season, where he fired Aston Villa to Europa League glory and a top-four Premier League finish, saw him make the plane.
The Villans earned themselves a place in the Champions League twice over having finished in the Premier League’s top five and winning the Europa League, and NSWE are set to invest heavily this summer to ensure Watkins and Co have the depth needed to make a run in all four competitions.
Aston Villa enter talks for Premier League midfielder
It appears Villa’s business could start in midfield, where both Youri Tielemans and Amadou Onana have struggled with injuries at times and Morgan Rogers could leave the club this summer.
Indeed, according to sources shared by Caught Offside, the Midlands outfit have entered into late talks with Liverpool to sign midfielder Curtis Jones.
Jones has been the subject of multiple bids from Serie A giants Inter Milan, who are determined to sign the Premier League winner but may now be blown out of the water at the last minute by the riches of English football.
Their new Grealish: Aston Villa officially join the race to sign £43m winger
Aston Villa are reportedly keen on a deal to sign a star who could be their next version of Jack Grealish.
Indeed, Inter’s last bid is understood to be below £22m, with Liverpool expecting somewhere in the region of £35-40m if they are to sell the England international this summer.
Jones, 25, has won the league twice as well as three domestic cups during his time at Anfield, but fell out of favour under Arne Slot last season and is still widely expected to move on despite the arrival of Andoni Iraola.
