Ollie Watkins has told Gareth Southgate he is ready to emulate Heung-min Son by forming a lethal strike partnership with Harry Kane should England need a Plan B at this summer’s Euros.
Watkins is one of three centre-forwards in the Three Lions squad in Germany and both he and Ivan Toney are well aware that their main role is to provide back-up to England’s all-time leading goalscorer, Kane.
Southgate has used his captain as a lone striker at the last two major tournaments and has rarely deployed a front-two since moving on from the pairing of Kane and Raheem Sterling that spearheaded England at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
However, Watkins sees similarities between himself and Son, who excelled alongside Kane during their time together at Spurs, making the runs in behind for the Englishman to find from deep.
“Yes, definitely,” Watkins said, when asked whether he and Kane could play in the same side. “I would like to play with H, because he drops in deep. He can play the No.10 role and he picks up a lot passes.
“I feel it would be similar to when he was at Tottenham and picking the balls up and playing it through to Son. But I know we’re blessed with a lot of talent in the No.10 role.”
Kane’s performance against Serbia in England’s 1-0 victory on Sunday has been heavily analysed, with the 30-year-old playing higher up the pitch and managing just two touches in the first-half.
He was more involved after the break, however, winning a series of free-kicks to help England relieve pressure while defending their lead and, watching from the substitutes’ bench, Watkins could appreciate a fellow centre-forward’s work.
“I was saying to Lewis Dunk on the bench, It is so difficult,” he said. “There are balls getting put up to H and he is a big guy but the Serbian lads were 6ft 5, 6ft 4, 6ft 3.
“I did not envy him. I am not going to lie. I obviously wanted to be on the pitch but having the balls down your throat is difficult to deal with no matter how well he handled it.
“Everyone wants to beat England so badly. It is their cup final and they do all they can and make it very difficult.
“But H is a world-class player and there is going to be times when you are not involved in the game as much and there will be times when you get a lot of the ball.”
Despite an outstanding club season with Aston Villa in which he scored 19 goals and registered 13 assists in the Premier League alone, Watkins was far from a certainty to make the squad for these Euros.
Southgate has tended to take only one specialist No9 to support Kane and though Toney registered nothing like Watkins’s output after returning from his gambling ban in January, there was heavy debate over who that should be.
“From my perspective, the media maybe underestimated me,” Watkins said. “I had a really good year, got the most assists in the league, scored a lot of goals and people still weren’t including me in their squads to come to the Euros.
“Everyone has their own opinion but I don’t feel like I have that big profile where I’m talked about. Or where if I was left out of the squad, people would be like: ‘Oh, I can’t believe they didn’t pick Ollie Watkins’. [But] I’m happy I’m here now.”
Playing second fiddle is not a role that comes naturally to the 28-year-old, who has been Villa’s main man this term, but he says he will be ready to make an impact should his moment arrive.
“It could be in the game [against Denmark] on Thursday, it could be later on in the tournament and I just have to be ready when called upon,” he added. “That’s the mindset I’ve got. I’m ready for any opportunity that’s thrown my way.
“You’ve seen it in the Champions League. Joselu didn’t play much across the season but he came on and scored two very important goals [in the semi-final against Bayern Munich]. Real Madrid wouldn’t have won it without him.”
