Ollie Watkins linked with £40m move as Aston Villa starlet urged to stay put

Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard is finalising his plans for a summer shake-up at Villa Park.

But reports today claim the Villa boss also faceS a battle to keep one of the club’s established stars.

The Villa boss was active in January bringing in Philippe Coutinho on loan and Lucas Digne , Calum Chambers, Robin Olsen and Kerr Smith.

He has since been open about his excitement for the summer as he targets a new defender, central midfielder and striker.

Talks are believed to be underway over Marseille defender Boubacar Kamara with Villa’s need for another holding midfielder illustrated against Liverpool when the hosts conceded to lose 2-1 three minutes after Marvelous Nakamba had been subbed.

Ollie Watkins future has been placed into doubt this week with reports West Ham could look to land the Aston Villa striker for £40million. England forward Watkins, 26, is said to have been identified as a 'key target' by David Moyes going into the summer, after recording 24 Premier League goals since arriving at Villa Park in 2020.

Former boss Dean Smith signed the striker after working with him previously at Brentford and loved his pressing and pace to get in behind but the forward has only scored five goals under successor Gerrard and can be erratic infront of goal.

Now transfer pundit Ekrem Konur has taken to Twitter to provide an update on the pursuit of Watkins claiming: "West Ham are ready to make a £40m offer for Aston Villa for Ollie Watkins. #WHUFC #AVFC." While reports in the Guardian also claim Watkins is among a list of targets for the Hammers including Benfica’s Darwin Núñez, Chelsea ’s Armando Broja and Arsenal ’s Eddie Nketiah.

Villa are trying to agree a cut-price deal with Barcelona to sign Philippe Coutinho