Unai Emery admits Ollie Watkins refused to play for Aston Villa on Sunday. He also insists that is not how the striker will be remembered.
Watkins, Villa’s record Premier League goalscorer, is flying out to Saudi Arabia on Friday to complete a £51m move to Al-Hilal. His last act in claret and blue was not a goal, but an apology.
An emotional goodbye
Inside the dressing room after the win over Brighton, Watkins faced his teammates and his manager. He had made himself unavailable for selection. He knew exactly how that looked.
“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,” Emery said.
There was no public dressing-down. No attempt to rewrite the story. Emery instead chose to frame Watkins’ Villa career by its body of work, not its final twist.
“His commitment and his behaviour was fantastic. He’s a fantastic guy – a fantastic guy even more than a player. I told him ‘bye’ with a huge hug and with small tears.”
Watkins leaves with 91 Premier League goals for Villa, 108 in all competitions since arriving from Brentford for £28m in 2020. Numbers that dragged the club from mid-table drift to Champions League nights and a genuine sense of belonging among England’s elite.
Now, the chapter closes. And Emery is already turning the page.
Jackson era begins
“But now it’s a new chapter here with Nicolas Jackson,” he said, the shift in tense as sharp as the shift in strategy.
Villa have agreed a £65m deal with Chelsea for the Senegal striker and are racing to have him registered in time for Monday night’s visit of Arsenal. If the paperwork lands, Watkins’ replacement could be thrown straight into the spotlight.
The message is clear: sentiment has its place, but not at the expense of momentum.
Watkins is not the only experienced figure to depart this summer. One by one, pillars of last season’s remarkable 2025-26 campaign have moved on. Emery knows the anxiety that creates in the stands, and he met it head-on.
“We took decisions because it’s good for the club,” he said. “Of course, we don’t want to be a club that sells players, but the responsibility is there. It’s crazy – 30 years old and £50m for Ezri Konsa, who is 28.
“How we developed in the last year with some players and how we can sell some players now is completely the right decision.
“We have to rebuild the team as fast as possible. [Fans] have to accept our way and why we are taking some decisions.”
The money is eye-watering. The logic, in Emery’s mind, is simple: develop, sell at peak value, reinvest, go again.
Goretzka brings a winner’s edge
Part of that reinvestment has already walked through the door.
On Thursday, Leon Goretzka completed his move to Villa on a free transfer after leaving Bayern Munich at the end of last season. His CV is heavyweight: seven Bundesliga titles, a Champions League, and years spent in a dressing room where winning is not celebrated, it is expected.
“He is a winner. He is a very competitive player – a good player to add into our squad,” Emery said.
“He is versatile and arrives fit and training well. Hopefully on Monday he can be on the field.”
Goretzka’s arrival adds steel, experience and a sense of big-club normality to a squad that has suddenly lost some of its most familiar faces. Jackson, if cleared, will add pace and chaos up front. Watkins, with his apology and his goals, will watch from a different continent.
Villa Park will feel different on Monday night. No Watkins, a new No 9, a Bayern midfielder patrolling the centre, and Arsenal in town to test the rebuild.
Emery has made his call. The question now is whether this ruthless summer marks the peak of Villa’s rise – or the start of something even bigger.
