Ollie Watkins is active for Aston Villa Aston Villa against Man United (Photo: Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
Former Manchester United defender Wes Brown called on his previous club to try a swap deal that includes Marcus Rashford and Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins.
Rashford faces an uncertain future at Old Trafford after going to the villa on a loan back in January, losing his favor to Mann UTD manager Reuben Amorim in the months leading up to that.
England International had a decent spell at Villa Park, so Unai Emery might be keen to keep him.
However, nothing has been decided yet, and the former Red Devil Brown suggests that his old club should try to negotiate a deal to exchange locations for Rashford and Watkins.
Can Manchester United sign Ollie Watkins?
Watkins was impressed by Villa and doubled his goals in five consecutive seasons, but has five goals from 18 appearances for England.
As reported by SkySports at the time, Arsenal refused Watkins’ bid in January, so it’s clear he’s seen as someone who could step up to a bigger club.
The 29-year-old is fast and good on both the foot and clinical finisher, so even if he’s not the youngest, he makes sense as a good short-term option for United.
| season | exterior | the goal |
| 2020/21 | 40 | 16 |
| 2021/22 | 36 | 11 |
| 2022/23 | 40 | 16 |
| 2023/24 | 53 | 27 |
| 2024/25 | 54 | 17 |
Man United advised to try swap deals
Discussing the prospects for the location of Watkins and Rashford, Brown told Boyle Sports in a Metro quote. “Delap would have been a good player for United, but I’m going for the experience. Manchester United need a striker and Ollie Watkins showed he can do that in the Premier League.
“Will Aston Villa trade Watkins for Marcus Rashford? I’m not sure because they still trust Watkins and need to find a big replacement.
“They want a striker who can get 20 goals and they’re hard to get. Look at how United and Rasmus Hozilund have struggled. But strikers like Watkins are great for United.”