Unai Emery Addresses Ollie Watkins' Future Amid Transfer Turmoil
Unai Emery has ripped the lid off Aston Villa’s transfer turmoil, confirming the club have received formal offers for Europa League hero Ollie Watkins and admitting his future is far from secure.
The England striker, who drove Villa to their recent Europa League triumph with five goals and two assists, is now firmly in the sights of Saudi Pro League giants Al-Hilal. And Emery, usually guarded in public, did not try to hide the scale of the issue.
“We have an issue with him, it's clear. He is our player. We have had offers for him, I don't want to sell him but it can change because if it's a good option for him and the club and I can replace him in the squad, this is the routine we have and we did before with the players who are leaving,” he told reporters when pressed on the 30-year-old’s situation.
That “routine” has already stripped his squad to the bone.
Ezri Konsa has gone to Arsenal for £51 million. Morgan Rogers has joined Chelsea for a British record £117 million. Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne have also walked out of Villa Park this summer. Now the club’s talisman is on the brink of the same conversation.
Watkins has been the heartbeat of Emery’s attack since arriving from Brentford in 2020, scoring 108 goals in claret and blue. Losing that output now, 10 days before the window closes, would be a brutal blow for a team trying to live up to European champions’ status while staying competitive in the Premier League.
Emery, though, is trying to keep a clear head.
“With Ollie, he is here, for me he is a fantastic striker, we have always believed in him,” he said. “Now he is our player, there are 10 days more or less to finish the transfer window, we will see what happens, I'm happy with him, if he is staying with us he will continue playing his level. If he leaving it's because it is good for three ways, one is him, another is the club and another is the team.”
The message is blunt: nobody is untouchable if the numbers and the timing are right.
Martinez Future in Doubt as Suzuki Arrives
The uncertainty does not stop with the centre-forward. At the other end of the pitch, Emi Martinez is also edging along the fault line.
The 2022 World Cup winner saw a move to Juventus collapse over the fee, but the prospect of him leaving has not gone away. Villa have already acted, spending £30 million to bring in Japan international Zion Suzuki from Parma, not as a long-term project, but as a genuine contender for the No 1 shirt.
“We have two excellent goalkeepers, of course we signed Suzuki not for the future but for now,” Emery explained. “He showed his capacity to get his performance to our level. He will need to adapt to us but he is playing at this level. Martinez transmitted to us the possibility to have another challenge in his career. Even last year, he was thinking in case he can have one possibility to change for his challenges.”
That line – “another challenge” – has become a recurring theme in the relationship between Martinez and the club.
“He didn't do it last year and he performed fantastic with us,” Emery added. “This year, again, he transmitted us the possibility to have another challenge and we decided to sign Suzuki because I think he's a fantastic goalkeeper.”
Villa’s Balancing Act
The picture is stark. If Watkins and Martinez both depart before the deadline, Villa will have sold more than half of the starting XI that lifted the Europa League trophy just two months ago.
That is not a gentle evolution of a squad. It is a teardown, driven by huge offers and players eyeing different stages, that heaps enormous pressure on Villa’s recruitment department to rebuild on the fly.
Emery is trying to keep Villa competitive while fending off global heavyweights with deeper pockets and grander financial promises. Every decision now carries risk: hold on to unsettled stars and risk losing them for less later, or cash in and trust that replacements can be integrated at speed.
The clock is ticking. Villa open their Premier League campaign away to Brighton on Sunday. By the time the window slams shut, will Emery still be building around Watkins and Martinez, or trying to launch a season with a very different spine to his European champions?
