Breaking News: Aston Villa ready to sell Ollie Watkins in next three days
Aston Villa are willing to sell Ollie Watkins in the next three days but have yet to find a buyer for their star man, sources have told Football Insider.
The Midlands giants need to offload one of their first-team stars by the 30 June accounting deadline to avoid breaching the Premier League‘s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR). Watkins is among a number of Villa stars who the club have let it be known to senior agents that they would sell by Monday’s cut-off.
Atletico Madrid-wanted duo Emiliano Martinez and Lucas Digne, as well as star midfielder Youri Tielemans, are also potential departures by next week. Intriguingly, Villa have not fielded a single bid or enquiry for Watkins so far this summer despite a series of stellar campaigns leading their attack.
They knocked back a bid of £40million from Arsenal for the England star in January but the London giants have not followed up their interest. Watkins hit 17 goals and notched 14 goals in 54 games across all competitions last term – but was benched briefly by Marcus Rashford mid-season.
The former Brentford striker was vocal at his disappointment at the decision from Emery, who restored him to the starting eleven after Rashford’s injury. Watkins is under contract at Villa Park until June 2028 and became the club’s leading Premier League scorer in May, overtaking Gabby Agbonlahor’s tally of 74 strikes
Meanwhile, Football Insider has also revealed (24 June) that Aston Villa are ready to sell Leander Dendoncker, Louie Barry and Kaine Kesler-Hayden.
The trio were all sent out on loan in the 2024-25 campaign and Villa have told them they are free to find new clubs before the 30 June accounts deadline. Potential sales of Barry and Kesler-Hayden would represent pure profit for PSR calculations as they are homegrown talents.
