RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Where Unai Emery is concerned, the silent treatment has taken on a new meaning. The Aston Villa manager’s pre-match interview at Brighton on Sunday was notable for a one-word answer. “Silence,” he said, when asked about Ollie Watkins ’ whereabouts. The England striker was absent for the 4-0 defeat , Emery hinting he refused to play.
Watkins appears set on joining Al Hilal. A considerable boost to his bank balance would come with a dent to his reputation . For the nice guy, one of football’s feel-good stories, it surely wasn’t supposed to end like this. When Watkins was playing for Exeter at 21, the riches now offered in Saudi Arabia would have seemed unimaginable. But so, too, would have scoring the winner for England in the semi-final of a major tournament or winning a European trophy. This will be his last big contract – and presumably, much his biggest – but it again invites the question of how much money footballers need.
Ollie Watkins appears set to wave farewell to Aston Villa (Getty)
Six years at Villa Park should not have left him a pauper. Instead, he may leave Villa with Emi Buendia acting as a false nine at Brighton as they made a false start to their campaign.
A tarnished legacy would be a shame because Watkins and Villa have been very good for each other. He had never played in the top flight before he became their club record signing. He became the only player to reach double figures of Premier League goals in each of the last six seasons. His departure may be drawn out, but perhaps Watkins finished in a way with a match-winning brace against Manchester City , his last game at Villa Park, like his third, an evisceration of Liverpool. There were six goals in his last five games for Villa and, in the one where he did not find the net, they won the Europa League.
Ollie Watkins was a key part of Aston Villa’s rise (PA Wire)
Watkins etched his name into Villa history; indeed he did so early on with his hat-trick in the 7-2 demolition of Liverpool in 2020. He became the first player since Peter McParland in 1962 to bring up a century of goals for them. That six-decade wait feels all the more astonishing given some of the calibre of players in the intervening period: Brian Little and Andy Gray, Peter Withe and Gary Shaw, David Platt and Dwight Yorke, Dion Dublin and Gabby Agbonlahor.
And yet there have been hints a relationship was frayed and fracturing. Another day when Watkins felt rampant came with the revelation he was angry: he destroyed Newcastle in April 2025 but, in his words, was “fuming” he had been confined to a brief outing in the Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain , when Marcus Rashford was preferred. Yet by going now, he would deny himself a chance he wanted then and a role in just Villa’s second European Cup campaign since 1983.
England’s Ollie Watkins scored a memorable winner as England beat the Netherlands at Euro 2024 (PA Wire)
He was of interest to Arsenal in January 2025 and then Manchester United the following summer, suggesting either or both of a capacity to earn admirers with his performances or an active agent.
Now the timing of Watkins’ wanderlust risks plunging Villa into decline. Perhaps the last week has been a tipping point in a summer that always promised some change. Villa may be stripped of six of the Europa League final starting 11.
Examine them and each case is different. For a club who have breached financial regulations, Morgan Rogers was always the likeliest candidate to command a sizeable fee and Villa got a huge one, in £117m . Youri Tielemans had a release clause, but still produced a £35m profit. Lucas Digne’s departure had seemed an annual possibility and finally happened. Villa tired of Emi Martinez and signed a replacement, Zion Suzuki, before the goalkeeper had even gone.
Unai Emery's Aston Villa squad has been torn apart this summer (Getty)
But Villa surely did not bank on two others jumping ship. Ezri Konsa represents a fine price, with £51m for a defender who is almost 29. Like Watkins, though, he was a stalwart, a graduate of the lower leagues who became part of the core Emery inherited, this group signed by either Steve Bruce, Dean Smith or Steven Gerrard who were the constants amid the frantic trading.
John McGinn and Tyrone Mings could feel lonely, as the last survivors of that group, if the exodus continues. The purpose of the senior professionals has seemed to underpin the Emery era, helping them to recover from the tougher spells. Now that collective will be no more.
And if, in reality, Villa needed to get younger, suddenly they are being stripped of the certainties experience provided; in Watkins’ case, that included a guarantee of goals, with at least 16 in each of the last three Premier League campaigns. Brian Madjo’s superb Super Cup performance against PSG offered hope for a future beyond him but Tammy Abraham’s ineffectual 2026 is a reminder Emery’s recruitment at Villa has been decidedly mixed.
The emergence of Brian Madjo feels key to Aston Villa if Ollie Watkins departs (Reuters)
It is one cause for concern if Watkins is going. But even before then, it is the way he seems to be going.
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