Unai Emery’s stony silence on Ollie Watkins following his absence in Brighton defeat

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery maintained stony silence at estranged striker Ollie Watkins following a 4-0 loss against Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday, adding further fuel to the fire over reports that the striker refused to play the opening game of the season.

Watkins was not included in the matchday squad, and with strikers Brian Madjo and Tammy Abraham ruled out due to injuries, Emery was forced to rely on attacking midfielder Emiliano Buendia to play up top. 

The move was a disaster as Buendia could not do much while Villa capitulated in stunning fashion to go 4-0 down in 31 minutes, in a game where new signing Joao Gomes was also shown his marching orders following a foul on Brighton man Georgino Rutter.

Emery was asked about Watkins and his absence in the matchday squad for the game. In return, the Spaniard observed a few moments of stony silence before saying, ““This question is for him,” he said. “I can answer only with my silence.” Emery was then asked if Watkins had refused to play, to which he said: “I think you can call him and you can call his agent and he can respond.”

“He [Watkins] can only explain his answer, I can’t,” Emery added.

Watkins has been the subject of interest from Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal, who have put in a number of bids to acquire the striker, all of which have been rejected by Villa. Watkins has been attracted by the prospect of the move, but Villa do not countenance a sale at this stage of the window having lost a lot of the players who were key contributors to qualifying for the UEFA Champions League and winning the Europa League last season.

Morgan Rogers, Ezri Konsa, Youri Tielemans, and Lucas Digne have all departed. Emiliano Martinez is expected to go through the exit as well by the end of the window, while Amadou Onana is out for the season after tearing his ACL while playing for Belgium in the FIFA World Cup.

When asked about the constant player turnover every transfer window for Villa, Emery answered, “This problem [with the transfer market] … we had every season and every season we overcame it. It’s something we have to accept and always we reacted, especially the players. This is something hard for us every year but we are calm. With this result, it’s more difficult to explain but calm, work, be positive and find solutions for the next week and after the transfer window.”