Latest review from Aston Villa as Emile Heskey speaks out on Ollie Watkins’ next move.
Emile Heskey believes Ollie Watkins should stay at Aston Villa and reject a move to a ‘top club’. That follows the striker’s scintillating return to goal-scoring form in recent weeks with four goals in his last two Premier League matches.
It took the 27-year-old six games to open his league account for the season, with the winning goal at Chelsea last month. He followed that up with a brilliant hat-trick in the 6-1 dismemberment of Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend since when he has been receiving glowing praise.
The former Brentford man has done that against a back-drop of speculation about his future, with regular links to Arsenal and Man Utd amid reports he is about to sign a new deal at Villa Park.
And Heskey, who played for Villa for more than three years before leaving in May 2012, has advised Watkins to stay with Villa because their style suits him better. “I like Ollie Watkins a lot,” Heskey told altindex.com. “He’s a different option to have when it comes to running in behind, and that is his game to a tee.
“Anything that goes over the top, he’s harassing defenders and they can’t bully him off the ball. He’s also got an eye for goal and he’s scoring plenty of them at the moment.
“I think rather than leaving for a top club, the main aim for Ollie Watkins will be taking Aston Villa to new heights first, and then he could possibly move on. The only thing is that a lot of his work is running off the shoulder in behind and when you’re playing at top clubs a lot of teams sit back against you. You really have to figure out how to play with your back to goal and not getting too many touches but having the whereabouts to make runs at the right time.”
Watkins moved to Villa from Brentford for £28m in the summer of 2020 since when he has scored 44 times in 116 Premier League matches.
