Aston Villa have been trying to sell two ‘big earners’ as unexpected deal agreed
Aston Villa planned to sell Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Martinez to avoid losing any of their young talents this summer.
Football Insider exclusively revealed on 28th July Villa have told rivals Watkins could leave for the right price, but they have been surprised by the lack of interest in the striker.
Manchester United were linked with Watkins earlier this summer before deciding to sign Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig instead.
Meanwhile, Martinez previously looked certain to join a new club, but a move has failed to materialise.
Football Insider revealed on 24 August Unai Emery has no plans to let Martinez leave Villa before the transfer window closes on 1 September.
Aston Villa wanted to sell big-name stars
This article contains exclusive comment from Stefan Borson, a former financial adviser to Man City.
Villa sold academy product Jacob Ramsey to Newcastle United this month in a £40million deal as they look to improve their financial position.
Morgan Rogers has also been linked with an exit, but Emery’s side are doing everything they can to keep hold of the attacking midfielder.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson said: “I do think that if you’d have asked Villa at the start of the summer what would you like to do in an ideal world from a player-trading perspective, they would have said, ideally, we’d get rid of Martinez and probably Watkins as older players who are approaching over 30 on big wages.
“So, we’ll get rid of those and we’ll protect the younger assets like Morgan Rogers and Jacob Ramsey, so we’ll double down on the young players.
“Obviously, that’s not happened.
“They’ve not found buyers for either of those players.”
Aston Villa prepare to lose Morgan Rogers
Football Insider revealed on 26 August Villa are preparing to lose Rogers in exchange for a late signing spree to strengthen their squad.
While they remain extremely reluctant to let the England international leave, interest from Tottenham is understood to have sparked the idea cashing in may not be an unacceptable option.
Villa have signed Evann Guessand, Yasin Ozcan, Marco Bizot, Modou Keba Cisse and Zepiqueno Redmond this summer.
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