Why Al Hilal’s striker search has turned to Watkins

Al Hilal’s search for a centre forward has reached the stage where willingness to negotiate matters as much as the names being discussed. Harry Kane and Victor Osimhen have both featured in transfer reports, but Ollie Watkins is the player whose move is now being explored through talks with Aston Villa. The England striker is understood to be interested. Villa have already rejected an offer, so interest has not yet become an agreement.

The reported bid was worth €45 million, around £38.5 million, and negotiations remain active as of August 19. Villa also need to consider who would replace a striker who scored sixteen Premier League goals last season. Their position involves more than accepting or refusing a fee in isolation. Releasing Watkins would change the attack with which Unai Emery begins another demanding campaign, and the availability of an alternative is part of that decision.

For Al Hilal, the attraction is the prospect of adding a forward with a sustained scoring record. Watkins has passed one hundred goals for Villa since joining from Brentford in 2020 and helped the club win the Europa League last season. He is thirty and accustomed to carrying a substantial share of his side’s attacking work. That is a different kind of proposition from signing a player who has shown promise without yet being asked to produce regularly.

The links to Kane and Osimhen illustrate the difficulty of reaching that point. Reports of contact with Kane’s representatives do not establish that Bayern Munich are willing to sell or that the player has chosen to leave. The reported approach for Osimhen met resistance from Galatasaray. Neither situation can be solved simply by comparing the forwards’ records or deciding which would look most impressive in Al Hilal’s shirt.

Watkins’ apparent openness makes discussions more practical, but it does not give Al Hilal control over the outcome. Villa still have a contract with the player and a team to prepare. The fee, the replacement and the timing have to align before a transfer can proceed. That leaves the Saudi club trying to advance the deal while continuing to select and train the forwards already available to Simone Inzaghi.

Karim Benzema’s position is part of that work. He joined Al Hilal from Al Ittihad in February on an eighteen month agreement and scored ten goals in fifteen appearances during his first half season in Riyadh. The club is now reportedly considering how to resolve his contract situation while pursuing a potential replacement. Until there is an agreement, however, he remains part of the squad rather than an empty place waiting to be filled.

It would be unfair to treat the uncertainty as evidence of a player’s private intentions. Contract discussions involve obligations on both sides, and the public reporting does not establish every condition being considered. Al Hilal need clarity about who will be available for the season; Benzema has an existing agreement. The useful development will be a confirmed decision, not a prediction about which party is prepared to wait longer.

On the pitch, Watkins would offer movement that could suit the passing available to Inzaghi. Ruben Neves and Sergej Milinkovic Savic can look for a forward making a run beyond a defender, while Crysencio Summerville’s arrival provides another player able to advance the ball from a wide position. The task would be to connect those strengths rather than expect the striker to create a chance from every delivery.

There will also be games in which opponents leave little space behind them. Watkins would then need to contribute through shorter movements and combinations around the area, helping teammates find a route through a compact defence. His record suggests a useful addition, but the type of chance Al Hilal create will influence how quickly he can reproduce his scoring in a different league.

Any incoming player also has to fit the club’s registration plans. That requires a clear view of the squad and any completed departures, rather than counting every transfer rumour as a vacant place. A move being discussed for one forward cannot be treated as finished merely because another is close to arriving. Al Hilal’s administrative decisions and their footballing plans need to reach the same point.

For now, Watkins remains an Aston Villa player and Benzema remains an Al Hilal player. The talks indicate where the Saudi club would like to take its attack, but the next meaningful step is an agreement that allows both clubs to proceed. Inzaghi must prepare the team in front of him while that work continues. A new striker could change his options considerably; until the deal is done, it changes only the possibilities.