This article is part of Football League World's 'The Verdict' series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Brentford manager Thomas Frank is in the final stages of finalising his squad ahead of the start of the new Championship season, whilst having to deal with a potential transfer bid for attacker Ollie Watkins, who could be a player plus cash target of Crystal Palace, it is reported in the Daily Mail.

Palace are keen to offer striker Alexander Sorloth in a player plus cash deal for 23-year-old Watkins, who has been at Griffin Park since July 2017 and has scored 20 goals in 86 appearances.

So would this deal be good business for the Bees?

We discuss.........

Toby Wilding

"If I were Brentford, I’d be doing all I could to avoid this deal.

"Watkins has emerged as one of the club’s key players in the past season or so, and he could become even more important to their campaign next season, given the continued uncertainty around the futures of the likes of Neal Maupay and Said Benrahma.

"By contrast, Sorloth has had a horrendous spell at Palace, and his time on loan at Gent earlier in the year didn’t produce the sort of record that would inspire a huge amount of confidence in him either, and the fact that Palace are willing to lose him with three years left on his deal while paying a fee on top of that for a player from a lower division says it all for me really.

"You would imagine Brentford will need more than the Norwegian to keep them in the hunt for a top-six spot they have threatened to get close to for some time now, particularly if they are to lose some of their other attacking options, so I can’t see this being a move that the Bees will be particularly open to."

Louie Chandler

"I think this will depend on how much cash is on offer.

"Taking one forward as part of a deal for an offer is always going to make it slightly more appealing but given Sorloth's record in England, I am not sure this is one that will attract too much interest from the Bees.

"He may well benefit from the Brentford system but considering he was been shipped out on loan after making just 12 appearances, I still think a hefty fee will be needed to tempt them to sell.

"They have a very real chance of winning promotion this season so will have no intention of cashing in on such a prized asset."

Alfie Burns

“Not in my eyes, losing Watkins at all is a bad move for the Bees, he’s that important to them.

“In two seasons at Griffin Park, Watkins has scored 20 goals and registered an impressive 10 assists, playing in a side that has never really challenged toward the top end of the table.

“To me, that says he’s a special player, who at 23, is only going to get better in the coming years.

“Player-plus-cash deals never work for the side getting rid of the better talent, so if I were Brentford I’d be standing firm until a seriously good offer goes their way.”