Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins stance prompts rivals to cool transfer interest
Villa’s hard line on Ollie Watkins’ valuation has seen Manchester United cool their interest in the striker.
The Red Devils are instead pursuing a deal for RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko after being put off by Villa’s valuation of Watkins, which is thought to be around £60million.
Villa have been adamant the England international is not for sale and it now appears United are not prepared to make the kind of bid to even get them thinking about parting with their top scorer for the last five seasons.
Watkins, who has scored 87 goals in all competitions since joining from Brentford in 2020, was subject of a failed offer from Arsenal in the January window.
The 29-year-old overtook Gabriel Agbonlahor as Villa’s all-time top Premier League scorer in May and remains a big part of Unai Emery’s plans, despite at times finding himself behind loanee Marcus Rashford in the pecking order during the final months of last season.
Villa’s window to this point has consisted almost exclusively of outgoings with goalkeeper Marco Bizot their only senior addition.
Emi Martinez, the club’s current No.1, has been linked with a move away but there have so far been no firm offers for the Argentina international.
Emery wants to add a right-sided defender and a winger and those are the moves the club will prioritise over the window’s final month.
