Aston Villa manager Emery Emery is not keen to sell Ollie Watkins who has been linked with a move to Premier League rivals Arsenal, Afrosport reports.
The Gunners have reportedly submitted a bid for the England forward which Villa rejected, with Arsenal expected to make another bid before the January transfer window shuts down on Monday night.
The move for Watkins comes as Villa are set to lose Colombian forward to Saudi Pro League giants Al Nassr after agreeing a €77 million deal.
Watkins has been an integral part of Villa since he joined from Brentford four-and-a-half years ago, scoring 81 goals and providing 35 assists in 201 appearances.
“I don’t want [to sell Ollie Watkins]. It is good news to have offer from another club. It is good, of (the) interest, it is good. But I don’t want, of course, we want to to keep,” Emery said.
“Our objective, sport objective through the player we have in the squad and of course maybe, every place can be, can be as well in the market. In case. is good for the player, for the club and for the team. But to get this, this deal of course, we have to be very demanding as well. And Watkins is our striker.”
Ollie’s first goal in the #UCL 👏 pic.twitter.com/GtFn2kN86s
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 30, 2025
Regarding Duran’s impeding move to Saudi Arabia, Emery stated: “And I don’t know exactly until everything is done if Jhon Duran is leaving or not, but if he’s leaving is good news for us, because its because they are paying good money.
“Because it’s good for him because as well, we develop one young player in two years getting this offer and this is one thing is not only for for the club. It’s the club, the players and the team. Those three circumstances can be positive for, maybe a minimum for two, the club the player and the team.”
Aston Villa managed to seal an automatic spot into the UEFA Champions League round of 16 after defeating Celtic 4-2 on Wednesday night, Morgan Rogers netting a hat-trick while Watkins scored one and provided two assists and also missed a penalty.