Two months ago, Ollie Watkins looked like he might miss out entirely. Out of form, adrift in the goal charts, and noticeably absent from Thomas Tuchel's England squad for the March international break, his prospects of playing at this summer's World Cup in North America seemed to be slipping away. But with one month to go before the tournament, the Aston Villa striker has undergone a remarkable transformation—and now he sits as the most in-form English striker heading into the competition, even ahead of captain Harry Kane.
The turnaround has been swift and striking. Since that March omission, Watkins has scored nine Premier League goals—more than any other player in that span, including Manchester City's Erling Haaland with seven. Across all competitions, the tally reaches 11 goals in that same period, where Kane has managed 10. His latest display came in Villa's 4-2 thrashing of Liverpool, where Watkins scored twice and helped secure the club's place in next year's Champions League. Even in defeat, he was what Liverpool's high defensive line could not handle: he ran continuously behind defenders and found space with such consistency that his teammates noticed what observers at home already knew.
The March snub, it seems, lit a fire that selection might have extinguished. "I had a slow start to the season, picking up a few niggles on international duty and then being left out of the England squad," Watkins said. "I think it gave me that fire in my belly to come back and prove to people what I can do. A lot of people had written me off this season and I use that as motivation to show them that I can be back to my best—scoring and helping the team." His captain at Villa, John McGinn, saw the shift firsthand. "He was obviously disappointed in March but if it gave him a kick up the backside, he's certainly responded in the best way," McGinn said. "I think he may have just snuck his way onto that plane."
The numbers bear out the narrative. Watkins has 12 Premier League goals this season overall—not his strongest tally in a Villa shirt—but nine of those have arrived since March. When you count all competitions, he's on 19 goals for the campaign, five more than both Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Danny Welbeck, the other English strikers competing for the backup role behind Kane. Ivan Toney, currently at Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League, remains in the conversation, but his numbers are harder to compare directly across leagues.
Former Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has little doubt about where Watkins belongs come summer. "He's got to be on the plane," Hendrie said on Sky Sports. "Since being left out we've just seen a massive turning of the corner. He's been relentless in front of goal, he's shown his capabilities. He's a totally different player to Harry Kane and gives them something different."
For now, though, there is one more stage to occupy Watkins' attention: Villa's Europa League final against Freiburg in Istanbul on Wednesday. The club has not won a major trophy since 1996 and has never captured a major European title since the 1982 European Cup. Manager Unai Emery has engineered one of English football's most improbable seasons, and with Champions League football now secured, all focus turns to one final night. Watkins' form suggests he arrives ready.