Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins has been a vital part in Unai Emery’s success at Villa Park.
Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins could have attracted the attention of several Premier League outfits, as transfer insider Dean Jones provides GIVEMESPORT with “messages coming out” of Villa Park.
During his time as Villans manager, Unai Emery has gotten the most out of the center-forward.
Ollie Watkins has joined Aston Villa on loan.
Watkins has had a good three years after moving from Brentford to Aston Villa in a £33 million deal in 2020. In 122 games for the Villans, the 27-year-old has 46 goals and 15 assists, helping the club maintain its Premier League position in his first two seasons.
Last season, the Torquay-born forward scored 15 goals and assisted six times in the Premier League as Villa recovered from a shaky start to finish seventh, gaining a spot in this season’s Europa Conference League. Watkins’ hat-trick in the first leg of a 5-0 play-off thrashing of Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership made the 3-0 victory in the second leg a foregone conclusion, putting Villa in the competition’s group stages.
Watkins has yet to score in the Premier League this season, but he has supplied two assists as Villa have had a mixed start to their domestic campaign, winning comfortably against Everton and Burnley before being heavily defeated at Newcastle United and Liverpool.
Watkins’ goal-scoring prowess in the last year is certain to have piqued the interest of clubs throughout the Premier League and Europe.
Premier League – 2022/23 top scorers
Player
Goals
Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
36
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
30
Ivan Toney (Brentford)
20
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
19
Callum Wilson (Newcastle United)
18
Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
16
Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal)
15
Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
15
Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
15
Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham)
14
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
14
All stats according to the Premier League