Aston Villa and Crystal Palace eye £10m-rated Sunderland attacker ahead of deadline day
Aston Villa and Crystal Palace have reportedly joined the race to sign Sunderland winger Tommy Watson.
Brighton have seen bids rejected for the 18-year-old, who netted twice against Stoke City in the Championship at the Stadium of Light earlier this season before picking up an ankle injury. The Black Cats are rumoured to want around £10million to consider letting the homegrown talent leave.
Watson has 18 months left on his contract but Sunderland would have to bring in a replacement for the teenager should the allow him to leave. Brighton have a long-standing interest in Watson and saw several bids for him rejected by the Black Cats during the summer window.
However, fresh claims on Sunday morning have claimed that two of Brighton’s Premier League rivals are now also interested in a deal to snatch Watson away from Sunderland during the winter transfer window, which slams shut on Monday at 11pm.
Football journalist Ed Aarons states: “Understand that Aston Villa and Crystal Palace are interested in Sunderland’s Tommy Watson and expected to make bids for the 18-year-old winger. Brighton saw their initial offer rejected but Sunderland don’t want to sell unless they can bring in a replacement.”
Le Bris hinted at that view when asked about Watson’s status on Friday, making clear that he is an important part of his plans. Sunderland were already hoping to make at least one attacking addition before the deadline even before Brighton’s interest in Watson was accounted for. While currently sidelined through injury, Watson is thought to be around ten days from making a return to full training.
“If Tommy did leave, we have to replace him,” Le Bris said. “We need two wingers on each flank, this is a better balance. Enzo can play here but only because we don’t have others available at the moment. I think Tommy started a few games before his injury so he was a new player in our team, and he did well.
“But it’s always the case that when a new player starts, it’s a new challenge. When you have to play 10, 15 games it is a different dynamic and a different challenge. He has started very, very well but to be a starter for a long period – this is different. We weren’t able to assess this fully because of the injury.
“But there is no doubt that he has very good potential and is a very good player. And he fits very well our style of play, we feed our wingers and support them in taking risks in 1-v-1 situations. If they fail, we say, ‘try again’. His profile is very good for this, but he has only played a few games.”
