Ollie Watkins has emerged as a surprise target for Al Hilal, the Saudi Pro League club under manager Simone Inzaghi made an enquiry about the 29-year-old English forward earlier this week, though no formal bids have been submitted according to Nicolo Schira.
Watkins been a highly influential figure for Villa since joining from Brentford in 2020, going on to score 87 goals and provide 42 assists in 223 appearances across all competitions.
Sources indicate to Softfootball that Aston Villa opted to sell Jhon Durán instead of Watkins last January and, like Rogers, will demand a high fee to part with one of their most valuable assets.
Watkins is also on Manchester United’s radar, though a move would likely require Rasmus Højlund to be sold first for Rúben Amorim to bring in another forward.
From the player’s perspective, it’s also unclear if a move to Saudi Arabia would suit him at this stage of his career in terms of his ambition, personal life and England hopes, and so there are a lot of uncertainty at this stage as we wait to see if things progress.
Given how heavily Emery has relied on Ollie Watkins up to this point, it seems unlikely that the Villa boss will be open to the idea of losing their decisive frontman this summer, but ultimately if a huge offer were to be made for a player approaching 30 years of age, that could help Villa find a long-term replacement, and so perhaps the stance of the club could shift.
Watkinsh has three years left on his contract, however, his commitment to Villa and their Champions League aspirations may complicate negotiations.
Softfootball reported earlier that Inzaghi wants key Inter star at Al-Hilal. Simone Inzaghi has only been Coach for Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal for less than two months but his impact has been a fantastic for the Asian side. The former Inter Milan manager is keen to reunite with former midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu.
The Turkish international is currently under contract with Inter until the summer of 2027 but he also wants out after his recent fights with club captain Lautaro Martinez due to his performances lately.
According to calciomercato, Calhanoglu whose current contract runs until the summer of 2027, reportedly earns a salary of €6.5m per season which is the second-highest in the Nerazzurri camp only behind the aforementioned Lautaro.
However, Galatasaray are favourite to land the midfielder and prepared to offer Calhanoglu a ‘double-digit’ salary in excess of €10m per season.
