Spurs held summer talks with 24-year-old who destroyed Liverpool last weekend – report

Tottenham held talks with Ollie Watkins before the striker agreed to join Aston Villa last month, according to Football Insider.

Watkins scored his first Premier League goals last weekend, bagging a hat-trick in Villa’s extraordinary 7-2 win against champions Liverpool.

And if Football Insider are to be believed, the 24-year-old could have been a Spurs player this season.

Their report claims Watkins was ‘desperate’ to join Tottenham after holding ‘extensive talks’ with the club, who were apparently in pole position to sign the former Brentford man.

Watkins finished top goalscorer in the Championship last season with 25 strikes as Brentford reached the play-off final, only to lose to Fulham at Wembley.

But despite talks, it is believed Spurs chairman Daniel Levy was unwilling to meet Brentford’s asking price for their star man.

Though Tottenham may come to rue missing out on Watkins, they did manage to bring in back-up for Harry Kane in the form of Carlos Vinicius, who has joined on loan from Benfica.

Indeed, it’s possible Watkins would have only been given significant game time in the Europa League anyway.