Премьер лигийн түүхэн дэх Астон Виллагийн шилдэг мэргэн бууч Олли Уоткинс 50 сая фунт стерлингийн гэрээгээр Саудын Арабын Аль-Хилал руу нүүх шилжилтээ албан ёсоор баталгаажууллаа.
2020 онд Брентфордоос Астон Виллад ирснээсээ хойш Олли Уоткинс 278 тоглолтод оролцож, 108 гоол оруулахдаа Премьер лигт 91 гоолтойгоор тус клубийн түүхэн дээд амжилтыг тогтоосон билээ. Тэрээр Европын лигийн аварга цолыг хүртэж, багийнхаа Аваргуудын лигт эргэн ирэх замд голлох үүрэг гүйцэтгэсэн юм. Унаи Эмеригийн удирдлага дор тэрээр сүүлийн дөрвөн улирал дараалан лигт 15-аас дээш гоол оруулсан тогтвортой амжилтыг үзүүлсэн бөгөөд 2023-24 оны улиралд 13 оновчтой дамжуулалтаар лигийг тэргүүлж байв.
Гэвч тоглогчийн үдэлтийн үйл явц ээдрээтэй болж, Брайтон энд Хоув Альбионд 4-0-ээр хожигдсон улирлын нээлтийн тоглолтод оролцохоос татгалзсан нь багийн дотоод уур амьсгалд сөргөөр нөлөөлсөн юм. Аль-Хилалын зүгээс ирүүлсэн дөрвөн удаагийн саналыг Астон Вилла эхэндээ няцааж байсан ч эцсийн дүндээ 30 настай довтлогчийн хүсэлтийг хүлээн авчээ.
Уоткинс өнгөрсөн пүрэв гарагт багийн нөхөд болон дасгалжуулагч Унаи Эмеритэй сэтгэл хөдөлгөм байдлаар салах ёс гүйцэтгэж, Саудын Арабыг зорьсон байна. Түүнийг Астон Виллагийн амжилтыг сэргээхэд үнэлж баршгүй хувь нэмэр оруулсан тоглогч хэмээн дурсах нь зүйтэй хэдий ч сүүлийн өдрүүдэд үүссэн нөхцөл байдал түүний үдэлтийн өнгө аясыг бүдгэрүүлсэн нь харамсалтай.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
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Ollie Watkins has always been a striker Aston Villa and their fans could be proud of.
He wasn’t an instant superstar, evident from his non-League spell at Weston-super-Mare in 2014-15, but his work ethic and character made it hard not to root for him as his career blossomed from Exeter City to Brentford to Villa and England.
After six years, Watkins said goodbye to his Villa colleagues on Thursday, before his protracted departure to Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia for a £50million fee was completed. He flew to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, but not before an emotional goodbye with manager Unai Emery.
The 30-year-old leaves as their all-time Premier League top scorer (91) and a Europa League winner. He should be unanimously revered, but has the ending soured his legacy?
This summer has been tumultuous for Emery’s squad, and he insinuated it was Watkins’ choice not to feature in a crushing 4-0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on the opening weekend of the season. Watkins has apologised to his team-mates.
It has been an unfortunate end to an otherwise exemplary and prolific spell as Villa’s talisman.
Watkins joined Villa from Brentford, who were in the Championship, in September 2020.
His ascendancy since has gone hand-in-hand with Villa’s — from survival to disrupting the ‘Big Six’ and returning to the Champions League.
Villa had missed out on signing Callum Wilson from Bournemouth when they went for Watkins, who was reunited with manager Dean Smith for a then club record £28million.
“I owe it to you (Smith). I wouldn’t have been at Brentford and Villa if it wasn’t for him,” Watkins told Sky Sports in October 2023.
Villa’s recruitment team were convinced by his qualities. They viewed Watkins as robust and were encouraged by his offensive output as well as his work rate. The only question was whether he could produce in the Premier League.
He answered that emphatically. His first goals in the top flight were a hat-trick in the 7-2 drubbing of champions Liverpool.
Ollie Watkins after his brilliant hat-trick against Liverpool in October 2020 (Rui Vieira – Pool/Getty Images)
Watkins played under Smith and Steven Gerrard, but it was Emery’s arrival in November 2022 that took him to another level. He scored 19 Premier League goals in the Spaniard’s first full season. Emery encouraged Watkins to work less in the channels and instead play within the width of the box. He and Rodri, Villa’s former individual coach who worked closely with Watkins, showed clips of strikers Emery had coached, including Carlos Bacca and Edinson Cavani.
Competition has come and gone — notably from Danny Ings and Jhon Duran — but Watkins has always been first choice.
As seen in the graphic below, only Mohamed Salah has more non-penalty goals and assists since Watkins’ debut in 2020-21.
He has been a 15+ goal Premier League striker for the last four seasons and led the league in assists in 2023-24, with 13, ahead of Cole Palmer and Kevin De Bruyne.
Despite being ailed by a cyst on his knee over the last two seasons, his availability has been unmatched too, playing in 221 of 229 games since signing.
This consistency led him to surpass Gabriel Agbonlahor as Villa’s all-time Premier League goalscorer in May 2025, a target Watkins had set when he signed. He became the first Villa player to score more than 100 goals since Peter McParland in the 1960s and leaves with 108 in 278 appearances.
His club form has been rewarded at international level, making the 2026 World Cup squad and scoring a 90th-minute winner for England in the 2024 Euros semi-final against the Netherlands.
Villa fans know what this usually means. Their top strikers have often been swayed by big moves in their prime — Dwight Yorke to Manchester United in 1998, Christian Benteke to Liverpool 17 years later.
This chance came for Watkins when Arsenal made a £40million bid in January 2025. Watkins had grown up an Arsenal fan, with Thierry Henry his idol, but the club chose to sell Duran, receiving a substantial fee of £64.5m from Saudi club Al Nassr.
Manchester United showed interest six months later before signing Benjamin Sesko instead.
As a result, Watkins was part of the group to lift European silverware at Villa for the first time since the 1980s, further enhancing his status. He started last season slowly, but a double against Manchester City in a 2-1 final-day victory took him to 21 goals in all competitions. They would be his last in claret and blue.
Ollie Watkins scored more than 100 goals for Villa (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Last summer, a senior figure at Villa Park, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect relationships, described him as a “gentleman” for his conduct throughout the transfer links with Arsenal and Manchester United, which makes the situation this summer all the more surprising.
Watkins’ stance changed when Al Hilal started their pursuit.
Emery seemed to suggest the striker’s absence against Brighton was Watkins’ decision. “You need to ask the player,” Emery said. His pre-match interview with Sky Sports went viral as he stared and said “silence” after being asked about Watkins.
The Athletic revealed Watkins had not been training with the squad before the opening day fixture after making clear his desire to leave. This came after Villa rejected a fourth offer from Al Hilal, worth £45million.
Watkins had two years left on his contract, and a move to Al Hilal proved appealing. At 30, it would have been one of the final windows for Watkins to pursue a lucrative transfer.
Had Emery not seen the key departures of Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Ezri Konsa, the manager might have been more willing to let Watkins depart. The club was eager to keep him, and a new contract until 2030 was offered.
As the transfer window entered its final 10 days, the Watkins uncertainty only added to the angst of supporters.
Now he has got his wish.
The ending has hurt, but time is a healer — and Watkins should be remembered as a striker who played a leading role in revitalising Villa and bringing European glory back.
