Emery deflects on Watkins absence after Villa hammering

Ollie Watkins was a notable absentee as Aston Villa were hammered 4-0 by Brighton in their opening Premier League fixture of 2026-27, and manager Unai Emery declined to explain the striker’s omission.

Villa lost 4-0 at the Amex Stadium in their opening Premier League game of the season, with Watkins missing from the squad altogether. The England international is the subject of interest from Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal, who have reportedly had a big-money bid for Watkins turned down.

Villa are keen to keep Watkins, having already seen Youri Tielemans, Morgan Rogers, Lucas Digne and Ezri Konsa leave this summer.

Emery’s response

Asked why Watkins did not feature against Brighton, Emery said:

"This question is for him. I can answer only with my silence."

Pressed on whether Watkins had refused to play, Emery added:

"I think you can call him and you can call his agent and he can respond. He can only explain his answer. I can't."

Record at Villa

Watkins joined Villa from Brentford in 2020 and has scored 108 goals in 278 games for the club in all competitions. Since the start of the 2020-21 season, only Mohamed Salah (118) and Erling Haaland (112) have scored more Premier League goals than Watkins (91). No other Villa player has scored more than 21 top-flight goals in the same time.