Serhou Guirassy's agent publicly denies the deal between Tottenham and Aston Villa links
Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins believes the World Cup could be a tournament for substitutes, and his club are already working hard to improve their attack ahead of a return to Champions League football.
Watkins came off the bench to score England's third goal in a 3-0 win over Costa Rica in their final warm-up game in Orlando.
The Villa forward was one of a number of introductions from the bench to add to the performance, with Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Morgan Rogers all making an impact as the Central Americans tired late in the game.
With the tournament being played in poor conditions and at different venues, Three Lions coach Thomas Tuchel will be expecting the players to come off the bench to make a difference.
“Even if you sit on the bench, you can see how hot it is when you don't even play, not to mention that the players are running at a high intensity,” said Watkins, who will play Harry Kane's role.
“The game opens in 60-70 minutes and what better way than with fresh legs to show what they can do.”
Watkins was handed a chance as England wrapped up their pre-tournament camp with a 6-0 win in a behind-the-doors friendly against Miami FC before switching to their tournament home ground in Kansas City.
“I think we've worked hard continuously, more days on our feet, more training sessions,” he said. “Even if we didn't train ourselves, we had a lot of meetings and meetings.
“It will be good to have some time off before we go to Kansas.”
You scored a goal
out of 20
Watkins has racked up almost 4,000 minutes on the pitch for Villa this season and is one of a number of England players facing concerns about their carry-over to the competition, with the Midlands club now receiving an update on their efforts to attack in depth this summer.
Villa and Tottenham have given an agent update on their pursuit of strikers
According to journalist Patrick Berger, the agent of Borussia Dortmund striker Serhou Guirassy has publicly denied rumors of a deal with Turkey's Fenerbahçe.
“Serhou is currently evaluating his options for next season. Any claim of a verbal agreement is untrue.”
That opens the door to interest from England, where the Villans have already made way.
However, it won't be easy for NSWE, with Tottenham also now considering a move, with Sporting Witness interpreting Berger's report.
They say “a move away from Dortmund is still a possibility for Guirassy” and Tottenham are ready to “completely overhaul Roberto de Zerbi's squad this summer”.
An up-and-coming ninth is clearly high on his list of priorities, and Guirassy's agent is keen to open the door to options in the Premier League.
The Guinean scored 17 times in 33 Bundesliga appearances last season, but at the age of 30 he is unlikely to represent a long-term investment.
A transfer was seen as inevitable with Tottenham and Sunderland set to hijack Newcastle's rejected bid
There is a huge race to sign an exciting young defender.
