Ollie Watkins 'really hurt' by Unai Emery, no 'coming back from that' at Aston Villa

25/04/2025 11:57

Ollie Watkins’ relationship with Unai Emery and Aston Villa may be irreversibly damaged after being left out of several huge games recently.

During the first half of this season, much of the debate around the Villain’s starting XI was focused on the number nine position.

Whilst Watkins has been the de facto choice in that role since joining the club in 2020 from Brentford, Jhon Duran was making a serious case to usurp the Englishman.

Ultimately, the 29-year-old won the starting battle and Duran was sold for a mammoth fee to Al-Nassr, as Villa looked to cash in on their super sub.

Marcus Rashford was brought in on loan to act as cover for the former Brentford striker, but in a surprising twist, Emery has favoured the England international in recent key games.

In both legs of the Champions League 5-4 aggregate loss to PSG, the Man United loanee started ahead of Watkins, and the Spanish boss also favoured the 27-year-old starting against Man City on Tuesday (22 April).

Ollie Watkins ‘really hurt’ after being left out of PSG clash

Watkins’ benching has reignited links to Arsenal, after the North London club missed out on signing the striker in January.

Former West Ham and Newcastle manager Alan Pardew spoke on talkSPORT about the issue and revealed that he thought it would be difficult between player and club going forward.

The 63-year-old said (25 April, 8.13am): "I think when a player gets left out of a giant game like those European ties, the two that he got left out, I don't know if there's any coming back from that.

"That will really hurt him. As brilliant as he has done for Villa, I'm not sure that relationship will ever be the same.

"So maybe he will move on, we'll have to see."

Unai Emery has clearly lost faith in Ollie Watkins

Football Insider Verdict

There is no denying that there are few strikers in the Premier League, perhaps even world football, as capable of finding the back of the net as Watkins.

The striker has delivered 34 league goals over this season and the last, whilst also providing 20 assists during that time.

However, something has shifted for Emery. The Spaniard chose to ignore his star striker for all but 17 minutes of Villa’s biggest game this century.

Watkins has hardly failed to deliver in big games this season, scoring against Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle, and Celtic.

But that has not been enough as Emery is now regularly calling on the mercurial Rashford to lead the line when it matters most.

With the striker nearing 30 and falling out of favour, Villa may come to rue letting Duran leave in favour of keeping Watkins in January.

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