{"id":43925,"date":"2026-03-01T21:09:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T02:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/03\/01\/big-call-from-manager-unai-emery-as-villa-prepare-to-sacrifice-30m-veteran-for-new-player\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T21:09:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T02:09:24","slug":"big-call-from-manager-unai-emery-as-villa-prepare-to-sacrifice-30m-veteran-for-new-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/03\/01\/big-call-from-manager-unai-emery-as-villa-prepare-to-sacrifice-30m-veteran-for-new-player\/","title":{"rendered":"Big call from manager Unai Emery as Villa prepare to sacrifice \u00a330m veteran for new player"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/03\/01\/big-call-from-manager-unai-emery-as-villa-prepare-to-sacrifice-30m-veteran-for-new-player\/#Villa_Eyes_replacement_for_Ollie_Watkins\" >Villa Eye&#8217;s replacement for Ollie Watkins<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/03\/01\/big-call-from-manager-unai-emery-as-villa-prepare-to-sacrifice-30m-veteran-for-new-player\/#Watkins_wasnt_at_his_best\" >Watkins wasn&#8217;t at his best.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins looks set to leave the club at the end of the season.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>According to Football Insider, they are prepared to sell the player in the summer and would be willing to accept a transfer fee of around \u00a330m. The 30-year-old striker has not been at his best this season and it would make sense for the West Midlands club to sign him. They are looking to bring in a young player to replace the England international.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Download the official CaughtOffSide app to get all the latest news and updates straight to your phone. above <span role=\"presentation\"><u>apple<\/u><\/span>  &#038; <span role=\"presentation\"><u>Google play<\/u><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Villa_Eyes_replacement_for_Ollie_Watkins\"><\/span>Villa Eye&#8217;s replacement for Ollie Watkins<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>They have already signed Tammy Abraham and are looking to bring in a quality partner for him.<\/p>\n<p>Watkins has previously been linked with a move from Aston Villa. Arsenal failed with a \u00a345m offer to sign the player in 2025, but it will be interesting to see if they are ready to sign him in the summer.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Watkins_wasnt_at_his_best\"><\/span>Watkins wasn&#8217;t at his best.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ollie Watkins celebrates the goal between Aston Villa and Bournemouth (Photo by Richard Heathcote\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The striker has scored eight goals in the Premier League this season and there is no doubt he could be a quality signing for the right team. The 30-year-old has yet to get better, but he could still be a very useful acquisition for the right team.<\/p>\n<p>It will be interesting to see if any club comes forward and is prepared to pay \u00a330m for him. Aston Villa are currently pushing towards qualifying for the Champions League, but they will need better players if they want to maintain this level. They need a reliable striker who can find the back of the goal on a regular basis.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the 30-year-old will be hoping to improve on his recent performances and help Aston Villa finish the season on a high. If we want to finish in the top four this season, he will need to step up and deliver. Watkins remains a very good player and could be a game-changer for Aston Villa if he can regain his form and confidence in the remaining months of the season.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End -->\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins looks set to leave the club at the end of the season. According to Football Insider, they are prepared to sell the player in the summer and would be willing to accept a transfer fee of around \u00a330m. The 30-year-old striker has not been at his best this season and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[40],"class_list":{"0":"post-43925","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}