Ollie Watkins: Exeter City will not rush spending £4m transfer windfall - Julian Tagg

Exeter City president Julian Tagg says the League Two club will take their time in deciding how to spend their cut of the £28m fee that Aston Villa paid Brentford for striker Ollie Watkins.

Exeter will get about £4m because of a 15% sell-on clause in the £1.8m deal that took Watkins to the Bees in 2017.

The impact of Covid-19 has caused uncertainty for lower-league sides.

"It's been very difficult to work out what to do next, and we're still in that position," Tagg told BBC Devon.

"You've only got to look at the national news to know that there's a massive degree of uncertainty.

"So whilst that's a huge boost for us, we've used up a lot of our reserve over that period of time.

"It's a good job we had that reserve, the underpinning, the safety net that the Trust has provided as a firm base has been very important, but now we won't move quickly."

Exeter, who have made the best part of £10m since the start of 2015 from selling their academy players - expect to get the money over the course of the next year, rather than in one lump sum.

The deal means they have now earned almost £6m from Watkins, who scored 26 goals in 78 appearances in three years with Exeter.

City could be in line for more money, should they agree a deal to sell winger Randell Williams.

The 23-year-old has been the subject of one firm bid from a side in a higher division and has a year left on his current contract.

"He wants to go as high as he possibly can. There are one or two clubs that are interested," added Tagg, who changed roles from chairman to Exeter's president and director of external relations during the coronavirus hiatus.

"In every situation, every chairman or person that's looking after the football side will tell you that these decisions are always multifaceted, they're never singular.

"It's not what we want, there's a whole series of things that have to happen. Who's coming through in our youth, who's the next person? Is it something that we should do now? Is it something that we should let go for another year and end up with nothing?

"It's not linear at all, and until you're aware of every piece of that puzzle then that's how the decisions are made and that's often very difficult, often elongated and very often, in the end, the player has the ultimate and final decision."