Aston Villa are expecting Al Hilal to return with an improved offer for Ollie Watkins after turning down a proposal worth close to £40m for the forward. The Saudi Arabian club want to sign Villa’s leading Premier League scorer, who has recorded at least 10 league goals in each of his six seasons since arriving from Brentford.
Should Villa part with Watkins, who has two years left on his contract, they would look for a replacement. Unai Emery is known to be a keen admirer of Nicolas Jackson, although Chelsea’s £65m asking price is considered too high for a deal to proceed. Villa recognise that signing a major player before the transfer window closes may depend on completing another significant sale because of Premier League financial rules.
Emery has been forced to make substantial changes to his squad this summer following the departures of Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne, who moved to Chelsea, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain respectively. Rogers’ transfer was worth £117m, making him the most expensive British player ever.
Villa have brought in Zion Suzuki to provide cover for Emiliano Martínez, whose position at the club is still uncertain. The goalkeeper joined from Parma for £30m and is set to become the first Japanese goalkeeper to appear in the Premier League.
The club have also agreed a £17m deal for Matteo Ruggeri from Atlético Madrid and are negotiating with Bayern Munich over João Palhinha and with West Ham regarding Aaron Wan-Bissaka. In addition, Villa have signed Johan Manzambi from Freiburg for a club-record £52m and recruited Joao Gomes from Wolves for £38m.
More departures remain possible. Villa are seeking a new destination for Martínez, while Arsenal continue to monitor the England defender Ezri Konsa.
Watkins, Martínez and Konsa were all granted an additional four-week holiday after the World Cup. Emery revealed that Watkins offered to feature in last week’s Super Cup, but the manager recommended that the striker extend his recovery period.
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