Aston Villa are unlikely to entertain offers for Ollie Watkins, with a host of their Premier League rivals interested in the 27-goal striker.
According to HITC, Aston Villa have no interest in selling Ollie Watkins to one of their top-six rivals despite PSR concerns ahead of the summer. A host of top teams in England are keen to snap up the England striker, with Unai Emery keen to keep the 27-goal striker for an important season ahead.
Aston Villa will not sell Ollie Watkins
Ollie Watkins was only behind Erling Haaland, Cole Palmer and Alexander Isak in the top scorer’s charts last season, and alongside his 19 league goals, he also provided 13 assists. Overall, it’s a stellar mark of a complete striker that Aston Villa have in their ranks as Unai Emery wants the club to keep him.
In fact, there has been a flurry of interest coming Watkins’ way ahead of the summer, with Liverpool the latest to join the race. The Reds need a new goalscorer, and the Aston Villa talisman ticks a lot of boxes. Arsenal have also been keen on the striker, with Mikel Arteta himself looking to add a new lead ahead of the new season.
However, the Gunners appear to be closing in on Benjamin Sesko; meaning should the RB Leipzig star arrive, they will certainly not pursue a name like Watkins. Aston Villa are anyway not interested in selling their talismanic striker at all costs, as he’s imperative to Emery’s plans ahead of the new campaign.
Manchester United are also keen on Watkins, although they will face an immense challenge to convince the striker and Villa to join them in this pursuit. There have been concerns about the Birmingham-based club breaching PSR rules, although their troubles will not see the club sell a player of Watkins’ calibre, especially to their top-six rivals.
Aston Villa will have to sell their stars
Aston Villa are thought to be on the brink of reaching a point where they could breach PSR rules, meaning they might have to sell some of their players. They are likely to part ways with stars like Diego Carlos, who might still have some good value in the market, as keeping him longer may not benefit the club in the longer term and financially.
Villa are not desperate to bring in funds to balance their act with PSR, instead, a few decent sales might do their chances some good. Hence, there’s no real urgency to sell a player of Wakins’ quality to get on par with the financial regulations.
