The 2024 European Championship will be contested in Germany this summer and Harry Kane will be well acquainted with the venues.
The former Tottenham Hotspur striker is enjoying life at Bayern Munich and will lead the line for England in the tournament.
Majestic. pic.twitter.com/LWsPsomtV8— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) February 4, 2024
Majestic. pic.twitter.com/LWsPsomtV8
However, should Kane get injured, who will step into his shoes as England’s number 9? Trends show Ollie Watkins could be the man for England if Kane becomes unavailable.
Watkins joined Aston Villa from Brentford in 2020 for a then club-record fee of £28 million.
In his first season at Villa Park, Watkins scored 14 goals in 37 appearances, plus created 5 goals for his teammates.
That was a great return for a player who stepped up from the Championship.
Watkins hit double figures again in the 2021/22 season, scoring 11 goals in the Premier League for Aston Villa and recorded his best goal return to date the following campaign, netting 15 times in the Premier League.
At the age of 28, Watkins is now in his prime and working under Unai Emery has brought out the best in the striker.
This season, having played 23 times in the Premier League, Watkins has scored 11 goals but he has also proved to be a key goal creator for his team.
Having recorded two assists in the recent 5-0 thrashing of Sheffield United in the Premier League, Watkins now has 12 assists to his name in the league this season.
Only Mohamed Salah of Liverpool has more goal involvements in the Premier League than Watkins in 2023/24, which highlights how well the Englishman has been playing.
If we look more closely at the 23 games played by Watkins in the Premier League this season, there have been only 7 matches where he has failed to score or create a goal for Aston Villa.
Watkins has also been extremely consistent in terms of minutes on the pitch this season and the striker has played the full 90 minutes in 20 of the 23 Premier League matches of Aston Villa.
So, Watkins has been dependable in terms of fitness and if his goal involvement continues at the same rate until the end of the campaign, his confidence will be high ahead of the European Championship.
Adding a two more to his name in @AVFCOfficial's 5-0 win...Ollie Watkins leads the way for Premier League assists 🪄📊 @Castrol pic.twitter.com/5Q2MGGSzUX— Premier League (@premierleague) February 5, 2024
Adding a two more to his name in @AVFCOfficial's 5-0 win...Ollie Watkins leads the way for Premier League assists 🪄📊 @Castrol pic.twitter.com/5Q2MGGSzUX
Watkins has already played 9 times for England and scored 3 goals, so there is nothing new about the England setup for the former Exeter City striker.
In terms of form, they do not come any better than Watkins right now and he should go as the backup for Kane at the 2024 European Championship.