Crystal Palace have made their first move in a bid to sign Ollie Watkins from Brentford, after submitting an £11million bid for the striker, The Daily Mail have reported.

Watkins joined Brentford from Exeter City in the summer of 2017, and the attacker has gone onto score 23 goals in 93 appearances in all competitions for the Bees.

Those performances have attracted the attention of several Premier League sides this summer, and Palace have now attempted to get the drop on their rivals by submitting the first offer for the 23-year-old.

Although you feel Brentford will prefer to keep Watkins if possible, this may well be an offer that the Championship side will be tempted to agree to.

Here, we look at three reasons why Brentford may consider accepting Palace's bid for Watkins.

The chance to reinvest

Considering Brentford reportedly paid Exeter just £1.8million for Watkins' services two years ago, a fee of £11million would be a significant return on their investment.

The Bees have already been busy in transfer window this summer, and with little more than a week to go until that window slams shut, you wonder whether they may have any more business planned between now and then.

If they do, then the £11million that they would receive for Watkins from Palace would surely go a long way to helping them meet the demands of those clubs whose players they may be targeting, giving them the opportunity to make some extra, potentially vital additions to the squad.

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They already have alternative options

If Watkins does leave the club, then you feel Brentford are in a reasonably strong position to cope with his absence, even if they are unable to bring in any replacements.

With the likes of Said Benrahma - who looks set to stay at Griffin Park for now after Aston Villa ended their interest in him - Sergi Canos, and new signing Joel Valencia all currently at the club, Brentford do have plenty of other options to play that second striker role behind the main target man, be that Neal Maupay or someone else next season.

Both Benrahma and Canos have already shown their ability in that role throughout their own time with the Bees, and you feel keeping them at the club along with Valencia would reduce the nerves around Griffin Park if Watkins does indeed leave this summer.

It avoids a difficult contract situation

Right now, there are two years remaining on Watkins' contract at Griffin Park, and while that may put Brentford in a strong position to negotiate the attacker's contract now, things would be different this time next year.

If in 12 months time, Watkins is still at the club but has failed to sign a new deal - which he may not do if he is indeed keen to move to the Premier League - then the pressure on the Bees to sell him at that point would increase, with the club not wanting him to depart for nothing in the summer of 2021.

That could see clubs moving for the attacker for a reduced fee, knowing that Brentford may be willing to accept due to the fact that something would be better than nothing.

If that was to happen, then finding a replacement for Watkins with reduced funds would become more difficult, and Brentford could be left rueing a missed opportunity to bring in someone with the capabilities of helping fire the club to the top tier for themselves.