Ollie Watkins offered more than £400,000-a-week to leave Aston Villa
Ollie Watkins offered more than £400,000-a-week to leave Aston Villa
Mike McGrathTue, August 25, 2026 at 4:17 PM UTC
0
Aston Villa have knocked back four bids for Ollie Watkins from Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal - Nigel French/PA
Ollie Watkins could earn more than £400,000 a week if Al-Hilal strike a deal with Aston Villa in the final week of the summer window.
The England striker, 30, has been the subject of four unsuccessful bids from the Saudi Arabian club this summer. They must go higher than the £45m offer rejected by Villa last week.
It is understood the Saudi Pro League (SPL) is willing to offer lucrative personal terms should they make a breakthrough on a fee in the next seven days.
With a proposed package worth at least £12m net a year, Watkins would need to earn wages upward of £400,000 for the same take-home salary in the UK given tax laws. Many deals in the SPL include bonuses, which could increase the overall salary of a potential move.
Watkins’ situation at Villa Park is among the biggest issues to be resolved in the final week of the summer window. He was absent from Villa’s 4-0 defeat at Brighton on the first weekend of the Premier League season and Unai Emery called on his striker to explain why he did not play.
Advertisement
The Villa manager also refused to answer the question of whether Watkins, who helped the club win the Europa League last season, had made himself unavailable. Watkins, who made two appearances for England at the World Cup, has returned to training with Villa but his future is uncertain.
Villa have also looked at other striker options, which points to considering contingency plans if Watkins departs. They made an initial offer of about £18m to Crystal Palace for Jean-Philippe Mateta, which was not considered serious by Palace. Neither was a second offer of more than £20m that had a demanding bonus schedule that might take the deal to £30m.
Villa are expected to move for Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson as their first-choice option for a striker, and the Londoners are quoting £65m.
Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson (right) is on Villa’s radar - Peksi Cahyo/Getty Images
Villa players have been told by Emery that Tuesday and Wednesday this week are days off. Watkins is understood to have reported for training on Monday following the Brighton defeat.
Mateta, having reached double figures for Premier League goals in his last three seasons, would be a difficult player for Palace to replace at this stage of the window. Oliver Glasner, Palace’s former manager, has encouraged his new club Nottingham Forest to sign Liam Delap, a similar profile of striker, for £50m from Chelsea. The 23-year-old scored once in the Premier League last season.
Mateta has one year left on his deal, a club option that was exercised by Palace last year. Mateta had sought to challenge the validity of that option which, if overturned, would have prompted contract problems across scores of clubs and players. Fifa has not moved to hear the case and the contract remains valid.
Source: “AOL Sports”
