As the England international belatedly opened his Premier League account with that winner away at Chelsea, you didn’t need a crystal ball to tell you what was coming next.
Ollie Watkins has always been what they call a ‘confidence player’. A striker who tends to score his goals in purple-coloured bunches. And, in hindsight, maybe Roberto de Zerbi’s tired, Europa League-juggling Brighton were the perfect opposition for a renewed, revitalised Watkins, the turbo-charged frontman becoming the first Aston Villa player since Andy Gray in 1977 to score two hat-tricks in the same season.
Arsenal reportedly eye Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins
According to Football Transfers, there is interest from Arsenal in the former Brentford ace. Technical director Edu Gaspar has reportedly held talks with Watkins’ agent.
And, with less than two years to run on his contract, Konsa is not the only one urging Aston Villa to get Watkins round a table and force a magic marker into his hand.
“For the club, it’s really important (to keep Watkins),” the similarly in-form Konsa says via the Daily Mail. “He scores us goals and wins us games. To have him extend his contract would be really important for us.
“I’ve known him for quite some time. We played together at Brentford, so I knew how good he was. And, when we signed him three years ago, I was delighted.
“Hopefully he can continue this form.”
Watkins has scored 44 Premier league games for Aston Villa since arriving in a £28 million deal back in 2020. Two of those came in a stunning 3-0 win for Dean Smith’s side away at Arsenal’s own Emirates Stadium three years ago.
“When you look at other clubs in the Premier League like Arsenal, Chelsea or even Man United, I wonder if his agent is sort of secretly saying ‘he is of that level,” former Villa goalkeeper Shay Given tells Premier League Productions.
“He can grab goals. Without Ollie Watkins, I wouldn’t say Villa would be in trouble, but they wouldn’t be as strong. He just looks so consistent with his finishing as well. You talk about strikers panicking in front of the goal. He is the opposite.
“He is a brilliant striker.”
