Join the Miguel Delaney: Inside Football newsletter and go beyond the game with exclusive insightsJoin the Miguel Delaney: Inside Football newsletterJoin the Miguel Delaney: Inside Football newsletterTRY 1 MONTH FOR FREEWhere 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)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,…
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2026-08-25 12:57:43
