Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery has revealed that Ollie Watkins has reiterated his commitment to the club.
The West Midlands outfit have faced a turbulent 48 hours with regards to their attacking options with strong interest in both Watkins and Jhon Duran.
At the same time as Arsenal allegedly making an approach for Watkins, Duran has moved to the brink of signing for Al-Nassr in a £64m deal.
With Emery having struggled to pair the two forwards together in the same team, accepting the proposal put on the table for Duran made sense for all parties.
Nevertheless, Villa were still left in an awkward situation involving Watkins, who is known to be a boyhood Arsenal fan and could have plausibly been open to a new challenge.
© Imago
'He is happy at Villa'
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Emery provided details of a conversation that he had held with the England international, reassuring Villa fans that both of their leading marksmen would not be departing before the February 3 deadline.
The Spaniard told reporters: "He is happy to stay. We asked him how he is feeling every day and year he is being here with Villa and he is happy here."
He added: "The commitment of Ollie Watkins with us is a huge commitment. 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 circumstances 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."
© Imago
A key moment in Villa's season
Even with Duran as competition, the fact that Watkins has still made 26 starts in the Premier League and Champions League highlights his importance to Villa.
Eleven goals and nine assists have been provided during those appearances, a further five coming off the substitutes' bench, and Watkins will now be focused on trying to win silverware with Villa as well as keep the club at European football's top table.
The 29-year-old will know that fresh competition for his place is inevitable, president of football operations Monchi having publicly revealed two potential replacements for Duran.
Regardless of whether either of those bids are successful, though, there is no realistic prospect of Watkins losing his place down the middle of Emery's attack anytime soon.
Darren Plant
