Unai Emery Warns Aston Villa Could Lose Ollie Watkins Amid Saudi Interest

Unai Emery has ripped the lid off Aston Villa’s uneasy summer, confirming the club have received formal bids for star striker Ollie Watkins and refusing to rule out a sale in the final stretch of the window.

Watkins, fresh from driving Villa to Europa League glory with five goals and two assists, has become a prime target for Saudi Pro League powerhouse Al-Hilal. His status as the face of Villa’s attack suddenly looks far less secure.

“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,” Emery admitted, before leaving the door ajar. “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.”

For a fanbase still riding the high of that European triumph, the timing is brutal.

Core of Europa League Winners Under Threat

Losing Watkins would not be an isolated blow. It would be another body out of a dressing room already stripped of leaders and quality.

• 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 away in the same window.

One by one, pillars of the Europa League-winning side are being sold off.

Watkins has been the constant since arriving from Brentford in 2020, scoring 108 goals and evolving into one of the Premier League’s most complete forwards. Emery made no attempt to hide both his admiration and his realism.

“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.”

That is the calculation. Sentiment on one side, the market on the other.

Martinez Future in Doubt as Suzuki Arrives

The uncertainty does not stop at centre-forward. It stretches all the way back to goal.

Emi Martinez, a 2022 World Cup winner and one of the emotional leaders of this Villa side, is again weighing up his future. A move to Juventus collapsed over the fee, but the possibility of a late twist remains. Villa are treating it as a live situation, not a closed chapter.

They have already acted. Japan international Zion Suzuki has arrived from Parma for £30 million, not as a project but as a ready-made option.

“We have two excellent goalkeepers, of course we signed Suzuki not for the future but for now,” Emery stressed. “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, Emery revealed, has been open about his ambitions.

“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,” the manager said. “He didn't do it last year and he performed fantastic with us. 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 are trying to walk a tightrope: stay competitive in the Premier League and in Europe, while fending off – or cashing in on – interest from global heavyweights.

A Squad Pulled Apart

Strip away the names and the numbers are stark. If Watkins and Martinez both go, Villa will have effectively sold more than half of the starting XI that lifted the Europa League trophy barely two months ago.

That is not a refresh. It is a rebuild on fast-forward.

The recruitment department now carries enormous responsibility. They have days, not months, to plug gaps in goal, up front and across a squad already thinned by big-money exits. Every decision from here carries weight.

There is no gentle bedding-in period either. Villa open their Premier League campaign away to Brighton on Sunday.

By the time the window closes, will Emery still have his talismanic striker and his World Cup-winning goalkeeper? Or will this be remembered as the summer when a European champion side was broken apart in real time?