Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has confirmed that Ollie Watkins is committed to the club and has ruled out a possible exit.
The 29-year-old has been a fundamental player for us since joining from Brentford in 2020, scoring 81 goals and providing 35 assists in 201 appearances for the club.
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The England international has benefited hugely from the arrival of Emery as he has not only become an even more fundamental figure for Villa, but his game has developed significantly and he’s established himself as an even more influential player.
Watkins has registered double figures in goals in every season in the Premier League thus far, and although he will be the first to admit that he must be more clinical, his overall impact when leading the line for Villa makes him integral to our continued progress.
Speculation has linked him with a potential exit ahead of the January transfer window deadline, with Arsenal said to have made a bid to try and prise him away from us.
While that offer was rebuffed, Emery has now dismissed the idea of Watkins leaving Villa, as he has revealed that our talismanic frontman is committed to us and is happy to remain at the club.
“The commitment of Watkins with us is a huge commitment to defend Aston Villa,” Emery said at his pre-match press conference, as per the Athletic. “He appreciates a lot how Aston Villa was always supporting him, helping him. When we joined here two years ago, how we worked with him — we are always trying to get the best of him. Now we need him, like he needed Aston Villa in the last years. The conversations we are having with him, he’s always adapting to every circumstance we have.
“Of course when some teams call us being interested in the players, it’s very good for us. Some players prefer to leave. Some players accept to be here and commit to us here and one of them is Ollie Watkins.
“He’s happy to stay. You can ask him but we asked him how he’s feeling every day and every year with Aston Villa and he’s happy here.”
It comes at a time when Jhon Duran is on the verge of completing a big-money move to Al-Nassr, and so while Villa simply couldn’t afford to lose both of our strikers this month, Watkins will once again be the undisputed starter up top.
He excelled in a similar situation after Danny Ings left the club, and while he has continued to play a pivotal role with Duran applying pressure and taking minutes and starts off him, he will hopefully relish this opportunity to once again be our main man leading the line.
For Duran, there was perhaps another hint from Emery above that he preferred to leave, and so it’s hoped that we can reinvest and improve the squad using the funds generated from his sale and continue to build around Watkins.