Celtic were once told to sign Ollie Watkins by Charlie Nicholas but were put off by the price tag Brentford were asking for in 2020.
Watkins is one of the Premier League’s most prolific goalscorers and is a regular in the England squad, thanks to his form at Aston Villa.
In 2020, Watkins was flying at Brentford and tipped for a move elsewhere and as the Hoops tried to find a replacement for Odsonne Edouard, Nicholas urged them to make a move.
- READ MORE: How Celtic’s Momo Sylla was responsible for the Hoops deciding not to sign Didier Drogba in 2002
Who is that one player Celtic never signed that they should have gone all out for?
Celtic were put off by £25m asking price for Ollie Watkins
Nicholas told the Express in 2020 that Watkins was the perfect forward to take the Hoops to the next level, saying: “Ollie Watkins is the sort of player Celtic should be trying to land this month.
“If you want real stardust and a potential long-term replacement for Odsonne Edouard then I would be looking at the 24-year-old Brentford striker.
“I stay a lot in that area so I have watched a lot of this boy and he gets better and better every time I see him.”
The former Hoops man said that he would have expected a fee of £10-£12m to sign him but he was some way off.
Brentford asked for £25m but in the end, he joined Villa for £28m, a fee that Celtic would not stomach in any sense.
He isn’t the only England international that was previously linked with the Hoops.
Ivan Toney was famously close to signing for Celtic from Peterborough United, only for the Bhoys to pull the plug on the deal at the eleventh hour.
Toney then joined Brentford of all clubs, where he became a modern-day club legend before moving to Saudi Arabia.
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