Ollie Watkins apologised for refusing to play, says Emery, as £51m Al-Hilal move nears

By Jack Shaw · Birmingham · Published: 17:10 BST

• Unai Emery says Ollie Watkins apologised for making himself unavailable for Aston Villa against Brighton on Sunday, and that the manager and squad accepted it.
• Watkins, 30, is expected in Saudi Arabia on Friday to complete a £51m move to Al-Hilal.
• Villa are poised to finalise the £65m signing of Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson as his replacement, and want him registered for Monday’s visit of Arsenal.

Ollie Watkins is leaving Aston Villa as their record Premier League goalscorer and he leaves having said sorry. Unai Emery confirmed on Friday that the striker apologised for refusing to play against Brighton last Sunday, describing it as a mistake the dressing room has forgiven, as Watkins travels to Saudi Arabia to complete a £51m transfer to Al-Hilal.

Ollie Watkins: how a record-breaking Villa career ended

Watkins joined Villa from Brentford for £28m in 2020 and scored 91 Premier League goals, a club record in the competition, in a total of 108 across all competitions. Emery said the England forward had come to him after the Brighton match: “He told us after the Brighton match he was sorry and that he had made a mistake. He was wrong, but we accepted it. The players as well.” The Villa manager added that he said goodbye “with a huge hug and with small tears”, and called Watkins “a fantastic guy even more than a player”.

The departure caps a heavy summer of outgoings at Villa Park. Emery pointedly cited the sums involved — “It’s crazy [money for someone] 30 years old and £50m for Ezri Konsa” — and urged supporters to trust the strategy. Leon Goretzka arrived on a free transfer from Bayern Munich on Thursday, and Nicolas Jackson is expected to follow for £65m. For the full rolling timeline of the window, follow the transfer coverage at JOE Sport.

The expert angle: Villa are not weakening, they are rebasing

Here is the unpopular reading of a summer that has looked, from the outside, like a fire sale. Villa have not lost a bidding war. They have taken £51m for a striker who turns 31 this season and committed £65m to one six years younger. That is not decline; that is a club resetting its wage-and-age curve while the market is still prepared to overpay for proven Premier League output.

The Guardian’s football finance writer Kieran Maguire framed the wider squeeze this week by contrasting Villa’s dispiriting window — Morgan Rogers, Ezri Konsa and Youri Tielemans all gone — with Tottenham’s estimated £322m spend after a 17th-place finish. Villa finished fourth and have less room to manoeuvre. Emery said the quiet part out loud: “We took decisions because it’s good for the club… [Fans] have to accept our way and why we are taking some decisions.”

The risk is the timing. Arsenal arrive on Monday and Villa may be asking a Senegal striker who has just walked through the door to lead the line, with the man who scored 91 top-flight goals for them on a plane to Riyadh. Jackson’s pressing profile arguably fits Emery’s system better than the finished article Watkins became; whether the finishing follows quickly enough to make the opening weeks survivable is a different question entirely.

Wrap-up

Villa fans have watched a record-breaker leave and a £65m replacement arrive inside a week. Is that ruthless squad management, or a club selling its identity? Elsewhere in a frantic deadline run-in, read how Tottenham signed Omar Marmoush on loan from Manchester City with a £60m obligation to buy.