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According to Sky Sports, Southampton are expected to revisit their interest in Brentford attacker Ollie Watkins, but they need to ensure they take a leaf out of the book of south coast rivals Bournemouth if they choose to pursue a deal this summer.

What's the word, then?

Well, Sky Sports reported during the January transfer window that Saints were keen on Watkins and his Bees teammate Chris Mepham, with the west London outfit valuing the duo at more than £20m each.

The St Mary's side didn’t get either player at the beginning of 2019, but Eddie Howe's men swooped in to sign the central defender in a £12m deal.

Southampton need to strengthen their attacking options before the 2019/20 campaign to avoid being embroiled in another relegation battle, but they also mustn't pay over the odds for new signings.

Following in Bournemouth's footsteps

If Sky Sports are correct, the Cherries would have been told that they needed to pay £20m to sign Mepham in January.

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However, they managed to pay just over half of that fee for the 21-year-old instead, and Saints must do the same with Watkins.

Despite an impressive campaign in which he scored 10 goals and provided a further eight assists in 45 Championship appearances for Brentford, Southampton mustn't be held to ransom by the Bees if they want to sign Watkins.

The 23-year-old has never played a minute of Premier League football, and a return on average of less than one goal every four games at the level below is hardly indicative of a star who should cost £20m-plus.

If they choose to push for the former Exeter City youngster they need to be sensible and negotiate well like Bournemouth seemingly did, to avoid another disastrous big-money deal like those involving Wesley Hoedt, Guido Carrillo and Moi Elyounoussi in recent years.