Ollie Watkins and Aston Villa's Tumultuous Summer

Ollie Watkins stands at the centre of Aston Villa’s turbulent summer, with Unai Emery unable to promise his star striker will still be at the club when the transfer window closes.

The England forward is being heavily courted by Al-Hilal, and Emery has admitted that formal offers are already on the table. After weeks of exits and upheaval, even Villa’s most reliable goalscorer is no longer untouchable.

Villa’s core ripped apart

Ezri Konsa is heading to Arsenal in a £51m deal. Morgan Rogers has gone to Chelsea for a staggering £117m club-record fee received. Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne have also departed.

Now the focus has swung to Watkins, the man who has carried Villa’s attack since arriving from Brentford for £28m in 2020 and who has gone on to become the club’s record Premier League scorer with 108 goals.

Emery wants him. Emery needs him. But Emery knows how this market works.

“We have an issue with him, it's clear. He is our player. We have had offers for him,” the Villa head coach said.

“I don't want to sell him but it can change because if it's a good option for him and the club and I can replace him in the squad, this is the routine we have and we did before with the players who are leaving.

“With Ollie, he is here, for me he is a fantastic striker, we have always believed in him.

“Now he is our player, there are 10 days more or less to finish the transfer window, we will see what happens, I'm happy with him, if he is staying with us he will continue playing his level.

“If he leaving it's because it is good for three ways, one is him, another is the club and another is the team.”

The message is blunt: Villa will not force him out, but they will not stand in his way if the numbers and the timing suit all parties.

If Watkins goes, the scale of the rebuild becomes stark. Should he and Emi Martinez both depart, Villa will have sold six members of the starting XI that lifted the Europa League just two months ago. A triumphant core, broken up almost overnight.

Martinez future clouded as Suzuki steps in

Martinez looked close to the exit door himself. A move to Juventus collapsed when the clubs failed to agree a fee, leaving the World Cup winner in limbo and Villa scrambling to secure their long-term solution in goal.

They moved decisively for Zion Suzuki, paying £30m to bring the Japan international in from Parma as their new No.1.

For Sunday’s Premier League opener at Brighton, though, Martinez will not feature. He has had only one training session since returning from an extended post-World Cup break, and Emery will not rush him.

“We have two excellent goalkeepers, of course we signed Suzuki not for the future but for now. He showed his capacity to get his performance to our level. He will need to adapt to us but he is playing at this level,” Emery said.

“Martinez transmitted to us the possibility to have another challenge in his career.

“Even last year, he was thinking in case he can have one possibility to change for his challenges.

“He didn't do it last year and he performed fantastic with us. This year, again, he transmitted us the possibility to have another challenge and we decided to sign Suzuki because I think he's a fantastic goalkeeper.”

So Villa head into the new season with their Europa League heroes scattered, their goalkeeper situation reshaped, and their leading striker being courted by Saudi money.

Ten days remain in the window. The squad that walks out at Brighton may look very different to the one that finishes August – and the biggest question of all hangs over the man who scores their goals.