Ollie Watkins: Exeter City hope to produce next England player from academy
- Published
Ollie Watkins made 99 appearances for Exeter City, before moving on to Brentford and then Aston Villa
Exeter City manager Matt Taylor says the club could have another Ollie Watkins on their books.
The Aston Villa forward came up through Exeter's academy and scored on his England debut on Thursday.
Watkins, 25, is one of a host of players to come through the League Two side before being sold on.
"We might have another Ollie Watkins in our midst at the moment, no-one's really mentioned that, but that could happen," Taylor said.
"You look at what Joel Randall's done in his debut season, you look at what Josh Key's done, if they keep improving next season and beyond then someone will buy them and it'll be a good club who buys them and develops them again, and you never know where they might end up."
Watkins had already earned Exeter an initial £1.8m transfer fee when he left for Brentford in July 2017 and the club made around £4m more from his £28m move to Villa last summer, with more from add-ons to come.
City will now get £75,000 following his substitute appearance against San Marino - a figure that would double if he started a competitive international.
Winger Joel Randall is the next player tipped to leave Exeter for a big fee
The club are also likely to bank another £150,000 if Villa stay in the Premier League - money which is key to the fan-owned club with no wealthy benefactor.
"The club will always operate with money in the bank, it's the way the club works," Taylor added.
"When it's the player's time to move on and we get the right value in terms of a transfer fee then generally we sell our players because there's no chairman putting money in.
"We don't get huge crowds so the club has to remain a business that runs itself, and Ollie's funds have helped us massively."
As well as players in the first team such as Randall - who has reportedly had interest from Celtic - Key and Alex Hartridge, the club has players further down the age groups such as under-16 players Sonny Cox and Harry Lee who are generating interest.
"Then it's the next group of players we sell, the next ones on the transfer line so to speak," added Taylor.
"They'll keep on coming as long as we keep on investing in our academy, but also keep giving young players the opportunity.
"Whoever it is next, they'll have had an opportunity within our first team group or our first team ranks and that's our mantra."