Manchester United have held initial talks with Aston Villa over Ollie Watkins, amid Villa’s interest in Alejandro Garnacho.

Watkins is one of a number of strikers United have looked at along with others, including Chelsea‘s Nicolas Jackson and RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko.

Villa do not want to lose Watkins and are understood to value him in the region of £60m, but interest in the England No 9 is thought to be intensifying.

Villa keen on Garnacho but unable to meet asking price

Villa, meanwhile, are keen on Garnacho, a player United want to sell, but they are understood to be unable to meet their current asking price to buy him outright.

Garnacho’s preference is to remain in the Premier League and play in the Champions League, but no such move has yet materialised despite some interest from Chelsea.

Any potential deals for the two players would be separate, but the sale of a player for Villa could potentially help them to afford Garnacho.

United’s focus is now on player sales after buying Bryan Mbeumo for £71m from Brentford.

After Marcus Rashford joined Barcelona, United are working on exits for Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia – as well as Garnacho.

Sky Sports to show 215 live Premier League games from next season

From next season, Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage will increase from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live.

And 80 per cent of all televised Premier League games next season are on Sky Sports.