Ollie Watkins has torched his Aston Villa legacy

How To Torch Your Legacy In One Weekend by Ollie Watkins is a cautionary tale ghostwritten by the Aston Villa striker’s agent. The story begins with a bit of background. Six years at Villa Park, 91 Premier League goals, double digits reached every season with only Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland scoring more in that time. An England dream realised in 2021, the nation’s hero in the Euro 2024 semi-final, and then in January 2025, a moment to underline his loyalty to Villa. Arsenal came calling, his boyhood club. “That is the dream, to play for Arsenal one day,” Watkins had said while at Brentford in 2020, but he did not force a move. Had he done so, he would be a Premier League champion by now and would have worn the gold badge this weekend. Staying put saw Watkins help Villa end their own trophy drought in May and edged him closer to club legend status. John McGinn got there, while Watkins was among a handful of others who took another step on that ladder to immortality. Watkins was maybe even a season away himself. Nine goals shy of joining the Premier League’s 100 Club, in a Champions League campaign after a summer where Villa’s squad has been gutted, he could have stayed at a club where he is already adored and joined McGinn in leading this club through a storm of upheaval. Instead, he has chosen the most unfathomable route out of them all. Not even because of the destination, but because of how he is choosing to get there. "This question is for him." Unai Emery addresses why Ollie Watkins wasn't in Aston Villa's squad today after their 4-0 defeat to Brighton. pic.twitter.com/UDzgYGXHPd— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 23, 2026 The Sunday no-show against Brighton has undone six years of graft and torched his reputation among Villa supporters. In search for justification, it can only be that playing the Premier League opener would have damaged his prospects of securing a move to Al Hilal, the only club currently interested in signing the 30-year-old. When asked about his absence afterwards, Unai Emery’s response to ask Watkins and “call his agent” suggests someone had a word in the player’s ear, and when you realise the England international is comfortably the biggest name in Two Touch Agency’s stable, the picture becomes clearer: a move to Saudi Arabia is a big deal. But throughout this attempt to reason with Watkins’ decision, it remains disheartening to witness another player who can already provide generational wealth for their family choose the Saudi route. It exacerbates the disconnect between supporters and the players they look up to, and is another reminder that the majority will never be able to comprehend the mindset of multi-millionaires. What does a little more mean to someone with loads? Clearly, something, and while he is not the first nor the last, the timing shows Watkins favours a flusher bank balance when records were around the corner. Maybe even a statue. Greed must be the only factor taking him down this path because, roughly three years into the Saudi Pro League trying to convince the outside world they are serious, I can count the amount of friends and family who watch it regularly on no hands. No player dreams of playing there but for the riches on offer. Perhaps for Watkins that is a fair trade-off. He stayed when he could have left, and now more than 18 months later he has watched teammates leave the club week after week. Morgan Rogers has gone to Chelsea, Lucas Digne to Paris Saint-Germain, Youri Tielemans to Manchester United, Ezri Konsa to Arsenal. All of those moves came with sporting rationale, maybe jealousy and regret are playing nagging roles, too. Watkins has not been pursued by Arsenal and – bar an incredible U-turn or interest from elsewhere – he will not get the transfer that takes him to bigger and brighter things. Read more The Score: My kneejerk Premier League takes after one weekend Daniel Storey: I’m jealous of Aston Villa’s staggering optimism He could yet stay, which is an increasingly improbable scenario, but the greater point is that he could still have left this summer in a manner that preserved his status as one of Villa’s greats of the 21st century. He still is, in some ways, because his incredible contribution cannot be erased, but as we saw with Alexander Isak and Trent Alexander-Arnold last year, the “yeah but” nature of such departures poisons all those “what about the time when” memories. Just three months after Istanbul and the bus-top parade dancing around Birmingham, it is a depressing final chapter.