Sean Dyche admits Ollie Watkins interest but says move was beyond Burnley

Sean Dyche has revealed that Ollie Watkins was on his radar but Burnley were priced out of a move for the Aston Villa forward.

Watkins was always destined for the Premier League after scoring 26 goals in the Championship for Brentford last season.

But it was Villa who won the race for the 24-year-old’s signature after splashing out a club-record £28million, further proof that the market is currently way beyond Burnley’s means.

“Ollie Watkins is certainly one they’ve brought in for a lot of money, and done well,” said Clarets boss Dyche.

“He’s a player we looked at, but the numbers keep rising and rising and rising, and Villa have got those numbers.

“For a player who has done very, very well outside the Premier League to move for that amount of money is a big fee. Villa obviously decided they were going to pay it so it is simple.

“It’s not rocket science, it’s just you need a chairman and a board who will spend that money. If you haven’t got that then it doesn’t get spent so it is simple.

“Most clubs know the runners and riders, know the players who are going well and have done consistently well over time, the possibles.

“It is putting the money up to get those players and that is something I have mentioned many times about this club beginning to stretch itself and learn that the market doesn’t care whether we want to spend or not, it is saying ‘you’ve got to.’ So it is a simple equation.”

Burnley head to Villa on Thursday night looking to build on the weekend win at Arsenal which lifted them out of the bottom three.