If Ollie Watkins' Aston Villa career ends this week, it will be on an avoidable sour note
Ollie Watkins and Unai Emery
Ollie Watkins and Unai Emery
If Ollie Watkins’ last act as an Aston Villa player was to refuse to play for the club, then it’s a crying shame that this is the lasting memory of a player who became a legend on that night in Istanbul three months ago.
Unai Emery pointed the finger at the striker and his agent when responding to questions about his absence on the south coast on Sunday afternoon. BirminghamLive was told that Watkins was not en route to Saudi Arabia to complete a move to Al-Hilal, as an agreement for his transfer was not close.
Suggesting that he did not want to play in Villa’s season opener, Emery didn’t want to detail the exact reasons for Watkins’ unavailability. Yet, without a striker to select from, as Tammy Abraham and Brian Madjo were both injured, his presence would have been a major boost.
Watkins, Ezri Konsa and Emi Martinez were all given four weeks off following their exploits at the World Cup, and Emery even brought up the striker’s name when insisting that he wanted to return early to play against Paris Saint-Germain in the Super Cup. What’s changed between now and then, only Watkins knows. But you’d assume it was a ridiculous amount of money offered to join Al-Hilal, with his absence from the squad against Brighton coming as a result of his unwillingness to jeopardise a move.
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But Villa are paying his wages, and the fans have paid their hard-earned money to travel to the south coast to watch their team give their best on the opening day of the campaign. Watkins had to show up, not even because Villa were without a striker, but because if Emery wanted him to, then that was the right thing to do.
Watkins may well feel that his time at Villa has come to a natural end, after winning a trophy and giving six years of service, but that doesn’t end when he chooses - it ends when the club sanctions his sale.
The backlash Watkins has received from Villa supporters should not come as a shock, because it’s never acceptable to avoid playing, whether you’re on the fringes, the captain or the main goalscorer.
What exacerbates the issue is, of course, the fact that Villa literally had no striker in their squad. But it’s also the fact that Watkins had, up until now, been a consummate professional and represented the club very well.
He and his camp may well feel that they need to be selfish to seal a move to Al-Hilal, and will therefore have to accept the consequences. Unfortunately, that will stick with Watkins should he now depart.
It feels like the only way he can rectify this situation is by apologising to the fans, staff and his teammates, knuckling down and scoring goals. But although football moves quickly, frankly, that feels like a long way away right now.
The person who should feel most let down by Watkins is Emery, who has stuck with him through thick and thin, even when Marcus Rashford was selected ahead of him against PSG in the Champions League quarter-finals.
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Without Emery, Watkins may not have played in the Champions League at all, represented England at major tournaments or won a European trophy.
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