Aston Villa expect another bid from Al Hilal for Ollie Watkins

Offer of almost £40m rejected for England striker

Watkins has two years left on his contract

Aston Villa are braced for another bid from Al Hilal for Ollie Watkins, after rejecting an offer worth almost £40m for the striker. Al Hilal are pursuing a move for Villa’s all-time Premier League goalscorer, who has reached double figures in the top flight in his six seasons at the club after joining from Brentford.

If Villa sell Watkins, who has two years remaining on his contract, they would seek to replace the 30-year-old England striker and Unai Emery is a big admirer of Nicolas Jackson, but Chelsea’s valuation of £65m is thought to be prohibitive to any deal. There is an acceptance at Villa that any marquee arrival before the close of the window would probably have to follow another major sale, owing to Premier League’s financial regulations.

Emery has had to significantly reshape his squad this summer after the departures of Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne, who joined Chelsea, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain respectively. Rogers left in a deal worth £117m to become the most expensive British player.

Villa have signed Zion Suzuki as a replacement for Emiliano Martínez, whose future remains unclear. Suzuki, a £30m buy from Parma, will be the first Japanese goalkeeper to play in the Premier League.

Villa have completed the £17m signing of Matteo Ruggeri from Atlético Madrid and remain in talks with Bayern Munich over a deal for João Palhinha and West Ham for Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Villa have also signed Johan Manzambi from Freiburg for a club-record £52m and Joao Gomes from Wolves for £38m.

There could be further sales, with Villa hoping to find Martínez a new club, while Arsenal remain interested in signing the England defender Ezri Konsa.

Villa gave Watkins, together with Martínez and Konsa, an extended four-week break after the World Cup. Emery said Watkins volunteered to play in last week’s Super Cup, but the manager advised him to continue to rest.