Ollie Watkins leaves Aston Villa as the greatest striker of their Premier League era

Ollie Watkins is leaving Aston Villa after six years, and while the circumstances surrounding the final few days of his time at the club have undoubtedly complicated the goodbye, they should never be allowed to define one of the great Aston Villa careers of the Premier League era.

When Watkins arrived from Brentford in September 2020, Villa had survived their first season back in the Premier League by a single point. When he leaves, he does so as the club's record Premier League goalscorer, having been the main striker for a team that has qualified for Europe four seasons in succession, reached the Champions League twice and finally lifted a European trophy.

He hasn't simply been around while Aston Villa have changed, he has been right at the heart of it, and for me personally he has been one of my favourite players of this entire period.

I have always backed Watkins, probably more than most, and perhaps that is why his departure hits me a little bit differently. I don't really know why, but it always felt more special when Ollie scored. As somebody who was such a huge advocate of him, particularly during periods when others questioned whether Villa needed better, there were times when his success almost felt personal and I probably celebrated his goals that little bit more because of it.

There have been an awful lot of them to celebrate.

Watkins arrived for what was then a club-record fee having never played a minute of Premier League football, but it didn't take him long to show that the step up wasn't going to faze him. His relationship with Jack Grealish was excellent, he reached double figures in his maiden Premier League campaign and developed a habit of producing against the biggest teams, with nothing announcing his arrival quite like the hat-trick against Liverpool in that extraordinary 7-2 victory at Villa Park.

That first season showed so much of what Watkins would eventually become for Villa because the goals were important, but so was everything around them. He ran relentlessly, stretched defences, pressed defenders and gave Villa an outlet, while his durability meant Dean Smith could build an attack knowing his centre-forward would almost always be available.

The route Watkins had taken to get there was always something I admired about him as well. He hadn't been a teenage superstar destined for the Premier League from the moment he entered an academy, he had battled his way through the divisions, improved at every level and eventually reached the point where he was leading the line for Aston Villa and England. I have always respected that enormously because nothing about his career was handed to him.

The following season became much more complicated. Grealish had left for Manchester City and then Smith, the manager who signed Watkins and understood exactly how to use him, was dismissed in November. His comfort blanket had gone, while Steven Gerrard inherited Watkins and Danny Ings and spent too much time trying to find a way of shoehorning both strikers into the same team.

It never really worked and I never felt Gerrard completely trusted Watkins. He was dealing with a managerial change at the same time as Villa were trying to discover an identity without Grealish, and Watkins inevitably suffered as a consequence.

The beginning of 2022/23 wasn't much better. Villa toiled under Gerrard and so did Watkins, but the arrival of Unai Emery changed the trajectory of the football club and, with it, the trajectory of Watkins' career.

When Villa sold Danny Ings in January 2023, there were plenty of supporters who believed the club had moved on the wrong striker. Watkins had been inconsistent in front of goal and Ings was regarded by many as the more natural finisher, but Emery clearly saw something in Watkins that he believed he could work with and those supporters were proved wrong.

Watkins was sensational during the second half of that season.

His movement became sharper, his finishing improved and suddenly he looked like a centre-forward capable of spearheading a team with serious European ambitions. The Newcastle game at Villa Park always stands out to me from that run, because they arrived in Birmingham heading towards Champions League qualification themselves and Villa absolutely battered them 3-0.

Watkins scored twice, had another hit the post and ran Newcastle ragged. It was one of those afternoons where the debate about whether Villa eventually needed to upgrade on him started to look increasingly ridiculous, because Watkins wasn't stopping Aston Villa from having a top-class striker, he was becoming one.

His goals were fundamental to that extraordinary run which took Villa from a relegation battle when Emery arrived all the way into the Europa Conference League, and then came the season which, for me, established Watkins as the best Aston Villa striker of the Premier League era.

He scored 19 Premier League goals and provided 13 assists during 2023/24 as Villa finished fourth and qualified for the Champions League, producing what I believe is the best individual season we have seen from a Villa striker since the formation of the Premier League. He wasn't taking penalties either, and while the numbers alone were outstanding, they don't properly explain his influence on that team.

Watkins scored important goals throughout the league campaign, contributed during Villa's run to the Conference League semi-finals and became the focal point of one of the best Aston Villa teams in decades. He finished the Premier League season with 32 direct goal involvements, won the Playmaker award for his 13 assists and was voted into the Premier League Fan Team of the Season.

Then came England.

Watkins went to Euro 2024 and produced a moment that will follow him around for the rest of his life, coming off the bench against the Netherlands in the semi-final and scoring the late goal which sent England into a European Championship final.

I loved the celebration almost as much as the goal.

There was something incredibly pure about it. Watkins celebrated like a supporter who couldn't quite comprehend what had just happened and, for those of us who had watched his journey at Villa, there was immense pride attached to it. Our Ollie had gone from Exeter City and the Championship to scoring the winning goal in a European Championship semi-final for England, and he had truly shown that he belonged at the very highest level.

The following season wasn't as straightforward, but this is also where I think Watkins' consistency can sometimes be taken for granted. He had Jhon Durán competing with him initially and then Marcus Rashford arrived to provide further competition, while Arsenal attempted to sign him during the January transfer window.

That move didn't happen and Watkins later spoke openly about being hurt at losing his starting place during Villa's Champions League campaign. I do wonder whether some of what happened this summer can be traced back to that period, because having seen an opportunity to join Arsenal disappear before subsequently finding himself fighting for a position he had made his own for so long, perhaps there were frustrations which never completely went away.

What we do know is that his numbers continued to stack up, and during that season Watkins overtook another famous Villa number 11, Gabby Agbonlahor, to become the club's outright record Premier League goalscorer.

Last season was probably the most difficult of his six years at Villa, but I actually think the way he responded told you plenty about him.

There were periods where things didn't come easily and moments when his confidence appeared to be tested, but he battled throughout it, never hid and eventually finished the campaign with another flourish of goals. Most importantly, after being such an integral part of Villa's rise under Emery, he finally got his hands on that much-coveted trophy.

I was delighted for him.

Watkins had been there for the charge into the Conference League, the return to the Champions League and everything that followed, so for him to finally have a medal to show for everything he had contributed felt right. Whatever happened afterwards, nobody can ever take away the fact that Ollie Watkins helped Aston Villa win a European trophy.

Then came this summer, and this is where things become more difficult for me.

I was devastated by what happened before the Brighton game because it just wasn't Ollie Watkins, or at least it wasn't the Ollie Watkins we had watched represent Aston Villa for the previous six years.

I can only put some of it down to bad advice and the emotion surrounding his desire to leave, but ultimately Watkins is responsible for his own decisions and he let himself down. I don't think there is any point pretending otherwise simply because I have always rated him so highly.

Speaking to me on The 1874 Podcast, The Athletic's Jacob Tanswell explained just how out of character Villa considered his behaviour to be, particularly because throughout the summer Watkins had been the player the club were perhaps most adamant they did not want to lose.

“With Watkins, they were like, 'No, he's staying. He has to stay,'” Tanswell explained.

“His behaviour over the weekend really hurt him. I think they've always felt like his head had gone, but they knew the real character of Ollie.

“They always felt like he was this real gentleman, hard worker.”

Watkins subsequently returned to training and apologised, while Tanswell explained that Emery had been genuinely hurt by the situation because of the relationship the pair had developed.

“He's always loved Ollie,” Tanswell said. “It stung him, let's not get away from that. It stung him that he's gone. He didn't want to lose him.”

I think that is important because Emery knows Watkins better than most of us ever will. He has worked with him every day, pushed him incredibly hard and ultimately turned him into a better footballer, so when Emery asks supporters not to allow a few difficult days to define everything that came before them, I think he is right.

As Tanswell explained: “He wants to kind of reflect that that was just two days, three days of madness. Let's remember him for all the goals he gave to us at Villa.”

That's how I will remember him.

For virtually the entirety of his six years at Villa, Watkins has been an outstanding professional and, by all accounts, a thoroughly good human being. That matters to me as well because Villa aren't simply losing goals, they are losing somebody who has been incredibly reliable on and off the pitch, while his availability and physical durability have been almost as impressive as his goalscoring numbers.

He is going to be incredibly difficult to replace.

Nicolas Jackson will now lead the line and I'm hugely excited about what Emery might be able to do with him, but it is going to be so strange seeing another striker occupying the position Watkins has made his own for the majority of the last six years.

I won't lie about my feelings on where Watkins appears to be heading either, because I think it's a waste.

He's better than the Saudi Pro League.

At 30, I believe Watkins still has plenty to offer at the highest level and plenty he could have continued to give Aston Villa. This isn't a player whose legs have gone or whose influence has disappeared, and I genuinely think he's going too early.

Ultimately, I suspect the financial opportunity will be a significant factor in his decision. Perhaps there is an element of looking after the people around him and rewarding himself financially for all of the sacrifices he has made and the extraordinary level he has driven himself to throughout a career that started a very long way from where it is ending.

I can understand that without pretending I wouldn't rather see him continue testing himself at the highest possible level.

My lasting feeling towards Watkins isn't anger about the final week, though. It's gratitude for everything that came before it.

I have loved having him at Aston Villa and I have loved watching a player I backed so strongly continually answer every question that was asked of him, whether that was proving he could make the jump from the Championship, proving he could score regularly in the Premier League, proving he could lead the line for a European team, proving he could take Villa into the Champions League or proving he could deliver at international level.

Every time the level around him increased, Watkins found a way of increasing his own.

That is why, for me, he leaves as the best Aston Villa striker of the Premier League era. For years I would have given that title to Dwight Yorke, and taking it from a player of Yorke's quality is no mean feat whatsoever, but Watkins' longevity, numbers, consistency, records and his importance during one of the greatest periods of change this club has experienced put him at the top for me.

There are so many moments to remember. The Liverpool hat-trick, Newcastle at Villa Park, the goals that helped drag Villa back into Europe, the season that fired them into the Champions League, the records, the European nights and finally the trophy.

Perhaps that is why his goals always meant that little bit more to me.

Ollie Watkins arrived at Aston Villa as a striker who had battled his way through the divisions looking to prove that he belonged in the Premier League, and six years later there is nothing left for him to prove to me.

He is an Aston Villa legend, the best Villa striker of the Premier League era in my eyes and somebody whose contribution to this period of the club's history will only become more appreciated with time.

The ending wasn't what anybody wanted, but it shouldn't be allowed to overshadow six years of goals, memories and moments that helped take Aston Villa from Premier League survivors to European trophy winners.

I wish him nothing but the best. I have absolutely loved having him.