On Saturday afternoon at B6, Ollie Watkins scored his second hat-trick of the year as Aston Villa thrashed Brighton 6-1.
After striking his first triple against Hibernian in the Europa Conference League in August and scoring the game-winning goal in the 1-0 triumph against Chelsea last week, the 27-year-old has made 11 appearances across all competitions this season but has only scored in three of them.
Concerns over the former Brentford striker’s health have been allayed as he appears to have rediscovered the goal-scoring form that eluded him in the first five games of the Premier League seasonthat his successful run last semester was an isolated incident.
Watkins, however, continues to raise concerns.
At the conclusion of this season, the hitman from Torquay, whose current terms are set to expire in June 2025, will begin the final year of his deal with Aston Villa.
On May 1, The Athletic reported that Aston Villa had begun negotiations with Watkins to secure a new contract at Villa Park. Five months have passed, but it is still unclear whether the striker will make a commitment.
Right-back ex-Villa On September 22, Alan Hutton told Villa News that Watkins’ new contract should be arranged and that the reason for the delay is unclear.
Following the signing of Ezri Konsa’s new contract last month, Hutton remarked, “I think he’s another one they would like to tie down to a long-term deal.” This year, John McGinn and Tyrone Mings also agreed to long-term contracts.
“I don’t understand the causes of [the delay]. Is it wages or length? Sincerely, I’m not sure. He might be waiting for something else.
“As I’ve said previously, you have to be playing at a high level for that to be available for you, so that’s only good for Aston Villa.
I’m hoping they can work out his new contract signing.
Just by taking a brief look at Watkins’ goal-scoring statistics from this season and the previous one, it is clear why Villa would want to sign him to a new contract.
In 37 league games last season, the B6 striker registered 15 goals and six assists. Only one of those goals was scored while Steven Gerrard was in charge, and between January and April, Watkins scored 11 times in 12 straight games while blanking just twice.
Watkins has failed to score in 11 of his 14 Premier League outings since a brace against Newcastle on April 15. He has scored in each of his previous two games against Chelsea and Brighton, so his form does appear to be improving.
Watkins has had 22 shots on goal this season, according to FBRef statistics. Only Marcus Rashford (28), Eberechi Eze (27), and Erling Haaland (30) have more.
Watkins, though, slightly outperforms expectations in front of goal as evidenced by his 3.4 xG stat, which complements his four goals well. However, he’s not hitting the mark with his shoots as only 40.9% of them have done so, which places him 65th in the Premier League. Out of the top 11 goal scorers in the Premier League, only Hwang-hee Chan of Wolves has a lower shot-on-target percentage (40%) than him. Hwang, though, has scored on each of his four attempts at goal.
But now that Watkins’ play is getting better, Aston Villa needs to start moving the contract negotiations along.
On Sunday morning (1 October), Fabrizio Romano stated in his Daily Briefing that Villa “keep pushing to extend his contract as soon as possible”.
Aston Villa cannot wait at this point, regardless of why it has been five months since the first Watkins negotiations began.
Knowing that a cheap trade for a prolific goal scorer at the conclusion of the season may be in the cards, vultures have already begun to swoop in. Earlier this year, the former Brentford striker was mentioned in connection with both Manchester United [The Athletic] and Bayern Munich [Mirror].
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With a sizable transfer budget and the ability to shape the team as he sees fit, Unai Emery is a brilliant manager. The inclusion of Monchi behind the scenes will support him in maintaining a high level of performance.
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