Ollie Watkins set for Aston Villa ‘axe’ as controversial transfer comes back to haunt Unai Emery
Ollie Watkins needs a period out of Aston Villa’s starting eleven in order to return to his previous best following a poor start to the campaign.
That is according to Premier League legend Matt Le Tissier, who has exclusively told Football Insider that the England striker is lucky to not have an adequate back-up who is competing for his place like Jhon Duran was last season.
Ollie Watkins netted double figures in league goals for the fifth successive season in 2024-25, but he has scored only once in his first 14 appearances of this campaign for Aston Villa.
He was linked away from the club over the summer after Football Insider revealed that Arsenal were planning to reignite their interest in Watkins following a rejected £50million offer in January.
Watkins was also targeted by Newcastle until the end of the window, but he remained at Villa Park and has subsequently struggled to make his mark so far this season despite continually being backed by Unai Emery.
Watkins has struggled so far this season with no real back-up striker
Watkins has been handed a start in nine of Villa’s 10 league games up to now, but has failed to improve in front of goal in weeks gone by despite their upturn in form.
His woes have led Aston Villa to start scouting Sunderland striker Wilson Isidor, as revealed by Football Insider, with the possibility of exploring a January move for his services.
Last season saw Emery rotate between Watkins and Duran for league and European games, and his departure in the last January window saw Marcus Rashford then come in to do a similar job.
Villa signed Evann Guessand in the summer to seemingly play second-fiddle to the England man, but he has mainly been used out wide so far, with Donyell Malen used as a centre-forward despite being a winger by trade.
Le Tissier thinks Watkins needs time out of Villa team but ‘the goals will come’ soon
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, former England and Southampton striker Le Tissier backed Watkins to return to form soon but insisted that he would likely have been dropped by Emery now if he had a proper back-up striker.
He said: “I do think he’s (Watkins) probably quite fortunate that Jhon Duran isn’t there anymore, because I think for sure he would have been swapped out by now.
“Sometimes it’s not a bad thing, when you go through a bit of a rough spell, to be taken out of the firing line, you know, just take the pressure off yourself for a little bit, maybe sit on the bench for a few games.
“(Then you can) come on in the last 20 minutes when you’re fresh and everyone else is just starting to tire a little bit. It just might give you that opportunity to go and get yourself a goal and boost your confidence.
“Obviously Villa’s start to the season wasn’t particularly great. He suffered because of that as well. But even now the results started picking up, he still hasn’t been scoring regularly. That is a little bit of a problem for Villa going forward.
“But he is a good player and he works hard, and I’m sure he will come good again. Sometimes players go through these spells where it’s just not happening for them, the ball doesn’t drop for them.
“You’ve just got to work your way through it. That’s all he can do at the moment. As long as he’s put a shift in for the team, the manager’s happy with his work rate, I’m sure the goals will come for him.”