Ollie Watkins contract negotiations top of Monchi Aston Villa in-tray
Ollie Watkins has been a prominent figure in the road for European football at Aston Villa, and new President of Football Operations Monchi now has the task of getting the striker to put pen to paper in a new contract.
The former Sevilla Director of Football will report to Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens and have responsibility for all football matters, including the club’s transfer activity.
Monchi has several pressing matters in his Aston Villa in-tray when he officially starts in his role at the beginning of July, but none more so than securing the future of Watkins.
The Daily Mail reported on 7 April that the England international was in talks over a new contract that would make him one of the highest earners at the club, but since then, no news has emerged of any significant progress in his negotiations.
Considering that since then, John McGinn has sealed and signed a new long-term deal in the West Midlands, it could hint that the club have reached a deadlock with Watkins.
Despite finishing the season in a slightly underwhelming fashion, his goalscoring blitz of 11 Premier League strikes from just 13 games mid-way through the campaign highlights the sky-high potential the striker possesses.
For many years the 27-year-old’s coolness in front of goal has been questioned, however, he has become a proper poacher since Unai Emery’s arrival at Villa.
According to the Opta-powered stats on FBREF, Watkins is in the 96th percentile of European strikers for the percentage of his shots which were on target last season (53.6%), while he also sat in the top 15% of forwards for expected goals per shot taken (0.18 per 90).
What is also interesting is the decrease in distance away from the goal that Watkins has been taking his shots since his arrival.
Often the former Brentford man has been criticised for doing too much of the dirty work and not getting in the right positions to score, with his average shot distance at 13.70 yards in the 2020/21 season, 13.60 in 2021/22. However, this significantly improved last term at a far lower average of 12.60 yards from goal.
Watkins stepped up his goalscoring output to 15 goals last season in the Premier League, and it feels like he has the potential to break the 20-goal barrier with the right sources of creativity around him.
It is now up to Monchi to sit down with the Englishman and thrash out new terms for a long-term contract at Aston Villa.
In other Aston Villa news, big-name signings are now on the cards after a behind-the-scenes arrival at Villa Park.