Aston Villa manager Unai Emery confirmed that Ollie Watkins has apologised after refusing to play against Brighton and will leave the club for Saudi side Al‑Hilal in a £51m deal. Villa are moving quickly to sign Chelsea forward Nicolas Jackson for £65m and have already secured Leon Goretzka on a free transfer as part of a squad rebuild.
Aston Villa have sold star midfielder Morgan Rogers to Chelsea for a record £117 million and face further exits of Youri Tielemans to Manchester United and Lucas Digne to Paris Saint‑Germain. Manager Unai Emery must rebuild the squad while aiming to repeat the top‑four finish that he achieved after taking the club from 14th place in 2022.
Aston Villa are set to sign Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes for £38m (£34m initial fee plus £4m add-ons). The deal follows Villa’s sales of Youri Tielemans and Amadou Onana’s injury, with Gomes expected to undergo a medical on Thursday. Atletico Madrid had also shown interest but did not finalize a deal.