Former England striker sends firm Ollie Watkins warning to Aston Villa

Former Arsenal and England striker Alan Smith believes that Aston Villa need to do everything they have to do to keep Ollie Watkins beyond the end of the summer transfer window.

Villa have been made aware of interest in the 29-year-old from Manchester United ahead of the 2025/26 season but the Red Devils haven’t shown any indication that they’d be willing to offer anything like a viable transfer fee.

With Benjamin Sesko now close to completing a switch to Old Trafford from Bundesliga side RB Leipzig, United’s apparently tepid interest in Watkins is dead in the water. But Newcastle United – Sesko’s other suitor after Arsenal opted for Viktor Gyokeres – have been linked with the Villa striker.

Any such interest should be dismissed without further discussion and Smith, who supported Villa before embarking upon his lengthy playing career, thinks that’s for the best.

“I just don’t think they can afford to sell Ollie Watkins,” Smith told BestBettingSites.co.uk

“He’s a proven Premier League striker. I wouldn’t say he’s top, top level, but he’s just below. Very good, team player, works incredibly hard, makes good runs.

“So, unless they could get somebody in very good to replace him, I think they’ve got to keep hold.”

Ollie Watkins is Villa’s irreplaceable focal point

Watkins joined Villa as a highly-rated hitman in 2020 but has still exceeded expectations. He became the club’s record Premier League goalscorer in just five seasons, scoring 75 times in 184 league appearances between 2020/21 and 2024/25.

He was the striker who helped Villa rise from relegation candidates to a top-half team and the man who scored the goals that took the club back into Europe and, a year later, into the Champions League.

The 29-year-old has been scoring regularly in Villa’s pre-season friendlies, most recently against Roma at Walsall’s Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium on Wednesday evening. His aerial threat has been one of Villa’s unexpected weapons of the summer, and his hold-up play with his back to goal was a crucial factor in the win over the Giallorossi in the shadow of the M6.

Watkins, who has three years left on his Villa contract, remains one of Unai Emery‘s most important players. Evann Guessand is being brought in to play with him, not instead of him, and it’s crucial that Villa rebuff any approach for him with the start of the season now just over a week away.

They’re unlikely to find a quality replacement for Watkins or anyone else at this stage and the shop, in my opinion, should be firmly shut.

Smith played for Leicester and Arsenal before the inaugural Premier League season and spent the new division’s first three seasons at Highbury before retiring in 1995. He scored twice for England in 13 caps and was included in former Villa manager Graham Taylor’s squad for the European Championship in 1992.

The ex-Alvechurch striker is a prominent television pundit and co-commentator.

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