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Aston Villa has had some brilliant strikers in the past, the likes of Gabby Agbonlahor, Christian Benteke and Dwight Yorke being just a few of them.
Agbonlahor scored 86 goals in 391 games played, sitting fourth in Villa’s all-time scorers list, whilst Yorke scored 88 goals in 264 outings, sitting third on the list. Peter Withe sits second in the list with 90 goals, whilst top of the list is Johnny Dixon with 101 strikes.
But Ollie Watkins already featured highly on the list, having scored 74 times in 176 matches. The 28-year-old is on track to become Villa’s all-time top scorer if he stays at the club and hits 250-300 games played, scoring at the same rate he is now.
But, once upon time, it looked as though he could leave the Midlands behind…
When Gerrard wanted to sell Watkins
Back in August 2022, Reports emerged suggesting that Everton were interested in signing the attacker from Villa, with it believed Steven Gerrard would have been willing to let him go with one source suggesting they didn’t see “eye to eye”.
Watkins has gone on to play 177 games for Villa, scoring 74 goals, providing 29 assists and totaling 14,698 minutes for the club.
He is now the club’s sixth-highest goalscorer of all-time, and could eclipse the aforementioned Dixon in first place if he stays at the club for the foreseeable future.
The 28-year-old only scored ten goals in 39 appearances for Gerrard, but has repaid the faith shown in him by Unai Emery, scoring 45 goals in 87 games for the Spaniard, also providing 20 assists.
First Impressions
What did pundits and fans alike think about their new star signing when they arrived? Football FanCast’s ‘First Impressions’ series has everything you need.
Ollie Watkins’ record under Unai Emery
The improvement Watkins has made under Emery is especially impressive when you take into account the individual metrics rather than just his G/A improvement.
Studying the stats, you can see Watkin’s gradual improvement in all facets of play.
|
Watkins season by season |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Stats (per 90 mins) |
2022/23 |
2023/24 |
2024/25 (so far) |
|
Goals |
0.44 |
0.51 |
0.63 |
|
Assists |
0.16 |
0.28 |
0.48 |
|
xG |
0.47 |
0.45 |
0.68 |
|
xAG |
0.11 |
0.18 |
0.22 |
|
Progressive Carries |
1.44 |
1.58 |
1.27 |
|
Progressive Passes |
1.12 |
1.51 |
0.79 |
|
Shots Total |
2.34 |
2.76 |
3.02 |
|
Goals/Shot |
0.17 |
0.19 |
0.21 |
|
Key Passes |
0.89 |
1.23 |
1.27 |
|
Touches (Att Pen) |
4.71 |
5.87 |
5.24 |
|
Stats taken from FBref |
|||
You can see Watkins has improved in every metric from the 2022/23 season, becoming more progressive in the 23/24 campaign (both passes and carries), and continuing to become even more clinical in front of goal, going from a 0.17 goal/shot ratio in 22/23, to a 0.21 ratio in 24/25 so far.
Not only has this improved in his own goal scoring metrics, but his creation is also up, with 1.27 key passes per 90, more touches in the penalty area, and more assists (and expected assists), another metric that has risen each year since 22/23.
It was perhaps unsurprising, therefore, to see him take home the ‘playmaker’ award in the Premier League last term for the division’s highest tally of assist.
Emery has allowed Watkins to flourish, putting the right things in place to get the best out of the England international and the Spanish manager will be very glad Gerrard didn’t get his wish, and the goal-machine wasn’t sold back in 2022. He has become an elite striker, one of the best in English football.
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