Watkins’ £51m Pro League move earns Exeter £2m windfall — but he was almost dumped on the scrapheap

OLLIE WATKINS moving to the Saudi Pro League earns Exeter a tidy windfall. The England striker joined Al-Hilal from Aston Villa for £51million on Sunday Ollie Watkins made a £51million move from Aston Villa to earn EFL club Exeter £2m windfall Credit: Getty Ollie Watkins started his career with EFL minnows Exeter, who almost dumped him Credit: Getty Images – Getty And the League Two side pocket nearly £2m as part of the sell-on clause from his 2017 move to Brentford and subsequent Villa Park switch. Yet Grecians boss Matt Taylor has revealed how close Watkins came to being dumped on football’s scrapheap. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! He told SunSport: “It was in the balance of whether Ollie would have a football career, let alone one at League Two, Championship, Premier League and then international level. “If he’d have been released at 18, 19 years of age, I don’t know if he’d have had a career. That’s how fine the margins are.” The skinny teen struggled for an identity at St James Park and was shipped on loan to non-league Weston-super-Mare to learn the ropes.Club coaches openly debated whether to send the youngster on another loan spell or cut him loose entirely before he broke through. Taylor explained: “Ollie didn’t have a position on the pitch. He played in every position. “He’d never been an out-and-out No9. There were times in that off-season where questions were being asked as to would it be another loan? Would he be released? “What would it really look like for Ollie? He probably outperformed our expectations in that breakthrough season.” Most read in Sport SUN VEGAS WELCOME OFFER: GET UP TO £100 BONUS The turning point came when Watkins returned for pre-season completely transformed. He packed on half a stone of lean muscle, giving him the athletic frame to start bullying defenders and catching the eye of the management.Taylor said: “He came back like a thoroughbred horse. It was incredible. All of a sudden, he’d out-jump and out-run defenders. “Certainly when he was younger, Ollie relied a lot on confidence. Then he’d score in training or a pre-season game. “And then the manager Paul Tisdale could see him leading the line as a centre-forward.” Watkins caught fire against local rivals Plymouth and never looked back. Taylor added: “It was that game where he announced himself on the first-team stage. “Then for the next 12 months, he was almost unplayable. He became the main man. “Once these young players get that prestige and responsibility, you can see them growing naturally. “Suddenly he wasn’t a skinny 18-year-old anymore. He was a 20-year-old man who could outrun and outfight a lot of opponents and also had a fantastic skill set.” Exeter’s model survives on producing elite professionals with the right mindset. Humility is essential. Taylor stresses that while the Grecians operate in the lower divisions, the players they produce possess the hunger and drive required at the absolute top level. He said: “I always go back to the biggest attribute of the players we’ve sold has been their mentality. Exeter boss Matt Taylor shared interesting insight into Ollie Watkins’ early journey Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Watkins has made a flying start in Saudi Arabia Credit: Getty “Now, we might have been playing League Two and League One, but these were still elite professionals at that point, which is why they’ve gone on to be where they are in the pyramid. “And that’s from their upbringing from their parents, first and foremost, their families, and then the support that the academy has been able to give them. “We generally produce good people and good professionals as well as good players. “But you have to be patient with young players. We usually hold on to them for longer than other clubs — and that’s exactly why Ollie was able to flourish.” Taylor — who returned to take charge of Exeter for a second spell in March — knows the harsh realities of management after tough spells at Rotherham and Bristol Rovers. He takes aim at top-heavy boardrooms that choke managers. Taylor warned: “We’re not called managers anymore, we’re called head coaches. We’re not the most important people in the building. “Unfortunately, there’s a director of football, a technical director, a head of recruitment, and various people at board level. “You’ll have family members in the boardroom who think they’re football managers and will always jump to a rationale or a reason as to why they’re not getting success.” Taylor kept Rotherham up in 2023 on the Championship’s lowest budget, only to be axed months later. He feels managers are treated as disposable by owners chasing dreams. The Exeter boss added: “I don’t understand why people don’t give managers or head coaches longer. It seems it’s easier to change the head coach than the players or the staff. “They’re the ones who seem to be dispensable when it used to be the other way around. “The truth of it is, in a league of 24, where your budget is, it’s probably pretty close to where you’re going to finish. So expectation as opposed to reality can be misguided.” Exeter were relegated last season, forcing a complete reset as 13 senior players departed. Most of Taylor’s squad are now academy products. He said: “We won’t make you rich — but getting you the move upwards off the back of being with us will do. And with that there will be a financial reward. “It’ll be a level up, or if not two levels up. If a player comes to Exeter and they’re not humble, they will not be successful.” The fan-owned Grecians rely on smart coaching over big money. Taylor concluded: “We have to be creative in terms of recruitment. We can’t compete financially. “Steve Perryman used to say our pound’s got to be worth two. It means we’ve just got to go above and beyond and get the most out of each other as people.” Comment now