Bristol City may still rue not signing star who is now shining for Aston Villa: View | OneFootball

England and Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins was once wanted by Bristol City, who may have lingering regret in not pushing through with the move.

Ollie Watkins is now one of the top strikers in the English game, with the Torquay-born attacker playing a key role in Aston Villa's recent successes and now looking ahead to Champions League football. The former Exeter City man was wanted by Championship side Bristol City back in 2017, but a move to the Robins never materialised, and the Ashton Gate faithful were left to rue not seeing the talented attacker play for their club.

Watkins, now 28 years-of-age, came through the youth setup at Exeter City. Starting out as a wide player, the youngsters' talent, quality and pace saw him eventually transition into a central striker.

Picking up the 2016/17 EFL Young Player of the Year award, Watkins was making a name for himself as one to watch for clubs higher up the leagues.

Wanted by a host of teams, the striker, who scored 26 goals in 78 appearances for the Grecians over a three-year spell, would ultimately join Brentford, then a Championship side, for a fee reported to be just under £2m, but the Bees weren't the only second-tier club chasing Watkins signature.

The Bristol post later described the Devon native as "one that got away" after former Bristol City manager Lee Johnson admitted Watkins was "top of our list" in terms of summer recruitment seven years ago, but conceded that "at the time, the price was hiked a little bit for" the Robins by Exeter, leading to alternative option Niclas Eliasson heading to Ashton Gate and Watkins going to West London instead.

Eliasson did well for City, but Watkins was exceptional for Brentford

Swedish left-sided player Eliasson (pictured above) joined the Robins from IFK Norrköping for an undisclosed fee thought to be well into seven figures, and the winger turned out to be a good addition once he had settled in the South West.

The Sweden international spent three relatively successful seasons with City before moving on to French top-flight side NÎmes Olympique in the summer of 2020, having registered seven goals and 21 assists in his time at Ashton Gate.

However, while Eliasson did well with the Robins, Watkins excelled further with fellow second-tier side Brentford over that same timeframe.

The forward, who became more and more comfortable in the main striker's role while at the Gtech Community Stadium, scored 49 goals during his 143 appearances for the Bees, while assisting his teammates on 17 occasions.

As Brentford missed out on a place in the Premier League after a 2019/20 play-off final defeat to Fulham, Watkins would soon be on his way to the top-flight regardless, joining Aston Villa for a fee totalling over £30m at the start of the following campaign.

Watkins has gone from strength to strength in his four years at Villa Park, cementing his place as the side's chief goal threat and scoring 70 times in 171 Villa appearances thus far, including eight in the UEFA Conference League (qualification and final stages combined).

The striker has also made his mark for his country, too, earning 15 caps since his 2021 debut against San Marino, and, perhaps, most notably scoring a 90th minute winner against the Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semi-final.

Non-league loan helped Watkins' development

Like many others before him, Watkins is keen to acknowledge the role played by a loan spell down the pyramid as a youngster helped his development, and career progression, greatly.

As the Bristol Post revealed, a social media Q&A with the striker saw him asked which club had the biggest impact on his career. Watkins answer was a loan spell Conference South (sixth-tier) side Weston-Super-Mare as a youngster: "Going on loan (from Exeter) to Weston, playing men's football. Best thing I did."

Watkins has met every new challenge successfully in a career that has taken him from the lower echelons of the EFL to the upper reaches of the Premier League and into the England fold.

However, while Brentford will be delighted he chose to join them in 2020, Bristol City and their supporters will be left to regret not signing the Aston Villa hotshot when they had the chance.