Why didn’t Ollie Watkins play for Aston Villa against Brighton?… Unai Emery gives bizarre answer

Unai Emery opened up about why Ollie Watkins didn’t play for Aston Villa against Brighton and Hove Albion.

The Midlands side suffered a disastrous 4-0 defeat at the American Express Stadium.

Unai Emery says to ask Ollie Watkins why he didn’t play for Aston Villa today

Aston Villa really could’ve done with Ollie Watkins this afternoon. The team, which finished fourth in the Premier League last season, hoped to hit the ground running.

Alas, that certainly wasn’t the case, with the East Sussex side demolishing them in an emphatic performance.

WOW: Aston Villa suffer appalling start to Premier League season after getting annihilated by Brighton

After the fixture, attention wasn’t merely centred around the terrible result, but also Watkins’ future.

During his post-match interview, Unai Emery was asked whether the natural-born goal scorer was absent due to transfer-related or physical reasons.

The manager replied: “Ask him. I only can answer it by silence.”

Ollie Watkins closing in on move to Al-Hilal

Throughout the summer, Watkins has been linked with a transfer to Al-Hilal.

Reports claim that negotiations between the English club and the Saudi Pro League team have reached an advanced stage.

A £50M offer is expected to be enough to get the deal over the line.

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