Ollie Watkins leaves Aston Villa with 108 goals, a Premier League scoring record and a European trophy. His final week was messy, but six years of relentless output and some of Villa’s greatest modern nights have already secured his place among the defining players of this era.
The ending was not how Watkins or Aston Villa would have wanted it.
A refusal to play against Brighton was followed by an apology to his teammates. Unai Emery later revealed that Watkins accepted he had made a mistake before the pair shared what the manager described as “a huge hug and a small tear.” Villa have now agreed his move to Al-Hilal, with the striker heading to Saudi Arabia to complete the remaining formalities.
It would be easy to allow that final controversy to dominate the story.
It should not.
Watkins arrived at Villa Park in September 2020 as a £28million signing from Brentford. He leaves six years later with 108 goals in 278 appearances, including a club-record 91 Premier League goals.
Those numbers are enough to make his Aston Villa career exceptional.
The journey behind them makes it even better.
Watkins announced himself against Liverpool
Villa broke their transfer record to sign Watkins after he had scored 26 Championship goals for Brentford.
There was still an obvious question.
Could he reproduce it in the Premier League?
His answer arrived almost immediately.
On 4 October 2020, Watkins scored his first three Premier League goals in the same first half as defending champions Liverpool were destroyed 7-2 at Villa Park.
It was a perfect hat-trick: right foot, left foot and header.
There have been bigger Watkins moments since, but few introductions have been more spectacular.
He finished his first Premier League season with 14 goals and never dropped below double figures in a league campaign for Villa.
That consistency became one of his greatest strengths.
Managers changed. Systems changed. Jack Grealish left. Villa moved from fighting near the lower reaches of the table to challenging Europe’s elite.
Watkins kept scoring.
Unai Emery unlocked the best version of Watkins
Watkins was already an established Premier League striker before Emery arrived in October 2022.
Under the Spaniard, he became something more.
His movement suited the aggressive vertical football Emery wanted from Villa. Watkins stretched defensive lines, attacked space and gave the players behind him somewhere to play.
The results became spectacular.
His 2022/23 league campaign ended with 15 goals as Villa returned to European competition.
Then came the season which changed his standing completely.
Watkins scored 19 Premier League goals and supplied 13 assists during 2023/24, producing 32 direct goal involvements as Villa finished fourth and qualified for the Champions League. Only Cole Palmer registered more league goal involvements that season.
His 13 assists earned him the Premier League Playmaker of the Season award, finishing two clear of Palmer.
For a player often reduced to his goalscoring, it was compelling evidence of how complete his contribution had become.
Arsenal goal captured Aston Villa’s transformation
One goal from that campaign stands above most others.
Villa travelled to Arsenal in April 2024 with Emery’s side fighting to secure a Champions League place.
Leon Bailey put Villa ahead late on.
Watkins then raced clear in the 87th minute, held off the recovering defender and lifted the ball over David Raya.
Villa won 2-0.
It was Watkins’ 19th and final league goal of the season and helped push Villa closer to an extraordinary fourth-place finish.
That finish summed up the striker Villa had developed.
Speed to threaten the space. Strength to survive contact. Composure when the moment arrived.
Villa were no longer simply attempting to survive in the Premier League.
They were beating Arsenal away and qualifying for the Champions League.
Watkins was at the centre of that transformation.
Records followed at Villa Park
The next milestone came in May 2025.
Watkins scored at Bournemouth to register his 75th Premier League goal for Aston Villa, moving past Gabriel Agbonlahor to become the club’s leading scorer in the competition.
It was not simply a statistical achievement.
The goal secured another important Villa victory during the fight for European qualification.
Then came the century.
Watkins scored his 100th goal for Aston Villa against Bologna in April 2026, becoming only the 12th player in the club’s history to reach three figures.
No Villa player had achieved the milestone since Peter McParland 66 years earlier.
For a football club with Villa’s history, that is significant company.
Watkins did it while playing through one of the club’s most dramatic periods of modern growth.
European success completed the story
Watkins had already helped Villa qualify for the Champions League and played in that competition.
His final full season gave him something even more tangible.
A trophy.
Villa won the 2025/26 Europa League, beating Freiburg 3-0 in Istanbul to secure their first continental honour since the 1982 European Cup.
Watkins scored five goals during the European campaign.
Two came away against Bologna in the quarter-finals before he struck again as Villa overturned their semi-final deficit against Nottingham Forest at Villa Park.
He did not score in the final.
He did not need to.
By then, Watkins had already played a major role in carrying Villa towards Istanbul.
The player who joined a club only months removed from a relegation battle was leaving one competing for major European honours.
One final mistake cannot define six years
There is no reason to rewrite the final week.
Watkins refused to play against Brighton.
Emery was unhappy.
Watkins subsequently apologised and admitted his mistake. ReadAstonVilla: Emery reveals Watkins farewell and apology
It was a poor way for such a successful relationship to approach its conclusion.
But Emery’s reaction on Friday was revealing.
There was frustration over what happened at Brighton, yet there was also genuine affection for the player who had led his attack for almost four years.
Watkins’ move to Al-Hilal is now entering its final stages, ending a transfer saga which had threatened to become increasingly uncomfortable.
Villa have already started the next chapter.
Nicolas Jackson has been signed from Chelsea and will inherit much of the responsibility Watkins carried.
Replacing the shirt is easy.
Replacing 108 goals will not be.
Ollie Watkins leaves as an Aston Villa modern great
The phrase “club legend” gets used too easily.
Watkins does not need it.
His achievements stand perfectly well without exaggeration.
He scored more Premier League goals for Aston Villa than anyone else.
He reached 100 goals when no Villa player had done so for more than six decades.
He helped take the club from the lower half of the Premier League into the Champions League and ended his final full season with a European winners’ medal.
ReadAstonVilla has already examined the scale of the squad Emery is now rebuilding. Watkins’ departure may be the clearest symbol of the change.
There will be new forwards, new heroes and new goals at Villa Park.
Watkins leaves with 108 of his own.
For six years, Aston Villa kept climbing.
Ollie Watkins climbed with them.
