Unai Emery has confirmed Ollie Watkins is ready to snub interest from Arsenal and stay at Aston Villa.
The England international was the subject of a reported £60million bid from the Gunners earlier this week, with the news breaking just hours before Wednesday night’s 4-2 win over Celtic in the Champions League, a game in which Watkins scored and missed a penalty.
With Jhon Duran on the verge of sealing a £64m move to Al Nassr, the last thing Villa need is for Watkins to indicate he also wants out. But Emery says, having spoken to him, the 29-year-old is happy at Villa Park.
Emery said: “Yes, he is happy to stay. We asked him how he is feeling every day and he is happy here.
“He appreciates a lot how Villa was always supporting him and helping him, when we joined here two years ago how we were working with him and getting the best of him.
“Now we need him, like he needed Aston Villa in the last years. I am speaking with him a lot, he is always adapting with every circumstance we have and of course when some teams calling us being interested in the players it’s very good for us and the players.
“Some players prefer to leave and some accept to stay here and commit with our challenges. One of them is Ollie Watkins.”
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Defensive worries for Wolves derby
After the euphoria of midweek, Villa turn their attention back to Premier League matters tomorrow with a local skirmish at Wolves.
They will make the short trip to Molineux without defensive duo Tyrone Mings and Matty Cash.
Mings was injured against West Ham last weekend while Cash lasted just 30 minutes of the Celtic game before limping off.
Emery said: “We will train this afternoon but Matty Cash is not available, he’s going to be, more or less, three or four weeks out.
“Tyrone Mings is a small injury, not really bad but I think he will need some days more to be ready to play.”