Al Hilal sign England striker Watkins from Aston Villa on three-year deal

[p]Financial details were not disclosed, but ‌British media reported the Saudi Pro League side paid £51 million for the ‌England international, who had two ⁠years left ‌on his [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aston-villa/W00wmLO0/"]Villa[/a] contract.[/p][embed guid="19b14552-6a3d-4daa-be9c-c763ccaa17d3" url="https://x.com/Alhilal_EN/status/2094100400613773470" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/watkins-ollie/rHnOkDD8/"]Watkins[/a] signed a three-year ​contract as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/al-hilal/hxxcePl9/"]Al Hilal[/a] acquired a proven goalscorer after he ​scored 21 goals in all competitions last season, including five goals in ⁠the Europa ​League as he helped deliver a European trophy to Unai Emery's side.[/p][p]However, an exit was on the cards ‌before the transfer window closed, with Emery revealing the striker had apologised for making himself unavailable for the club's Premier League opener.[/p][image alt="Watkins domestic league stats" id="6f56efbc-e16a-4f0d-adde-fb869cf34aeb" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="534dbe96-cfea-4509-a735-aa178fcb44d7" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]Watkins scored 91 Premier League goals for Villa, a club record, and 108 in all competitions since arriving from Brentford ‌for £28 million in 2020.[/p][p]The striker is ​among a string of departures from ‌Villa in the close season following the exits of key players such as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rogers-morgan/lp4jm80n/"]Morgan Rogers[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/martinez-emiliano/ziCcc5jM/"]Emi Martinez[/a] (both Chelsea), [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/konsa-ezri/4CQLQWTa/"]Ezri Konsa[/a] (Arsenal) and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tielemans-youri/GtkTQyib/"]⁠Youri Tielemans[/a] (Manchester ⁠United).[/p][infobox id="a26dc69f-5d29-48c9-8d0f-786c18f76a2b" /]