Ollie Watkins loved a fruitful 2023/24 season, serving to get Aston Villa into the Champions League with 19 objectives within the Premier League.
With out his talismanic kind, Aston Villa could have needed to accept a lesser European competitors underneath Unai Emery. And whereas the Spaniard is the grasp within the Europa League, all Villa followers have been praying for a prime 4 end. They duly earned it.
Success has been achieved with an attacking swagger hardly ever seen in that a part of the nation. The 76 league objectives scored was Villa’s highest tally in a 38-game top-flight season since 1913; Watkins’ 27 objectives in all competitions, the best whole for a Villa participant since Andy Grey in 1976/77. Including 13 league assists additionally confirmed that Watkins’ worth lies in additional than simply objectives.
VIDEO: How Unai Emery Made Aston Villa Champions League Contenders
For Premier League legend and former Aston Villa striker, Dwight Yorke, he believes there is a clear resemblance between his model and Watkins’.
“I see a number of myself in Ollie Watkins,” Yorke solely tells FourFourTwo . “He’s a creator, a dribbler and a finisher, a bit like I used to be again within the day. You noticed from his variety of objectives and assists final time period that he has a little bit little bit of all the things. His work ethic can also be admirable. He’s a prime, prime participant. You don’t get to that stage, scoring that many objectives and contributing creatively, except you’re a implausible footballer.
Watkins was good final time period (Picture credit score: Picture Photograph Company/Getty Pictures)
“It took him a short time to succeed in these ranges, however now he’s established. He’s a kind of gamers you’ll be able to choose repeatedly, each week, as a result of his stage is all the time excessive and he has proven that he will be trusted constantly. That’s what the highest gamers do.
“The place does Watkins go from right here? Can he produce that once more this season, whereas additionally performing within the Champions League?”
If he does, then Villa might effectively work their means into the final 16 of the European competitors. Villa will want objectives from Watkins in opposition to the likes of Bayern Munich, Juventus, RB Leipzig, Monaco and Celtic in the event that they’re to face an opportunity – but when final time period is something to go by, the Englishman will not be fazed.
Yorke speaks about Watkins (Picture credit score: Getty Pictures)
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