Ollie Watkins may now explore a move away from Aston Villa this summer after Unai Emery’s last attempt to replace him with Marcus Rashford.
Unai Emery’s side welcomed PSG to Villa Park tonight (15 April) in the Champions League, a week on from losing the first-leg 3-1.
An early goal from Morgan Rogers in Paris was cancelled out by wonder strikes from Désiré Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia either side of half-time before Nuno Mendes gave the French outfit a two-goal advantage moments before the final whistle.
Ahead of the important clash, talkSPORT pundit Andy Goldstein and former Watford striker Troy Deeney, were in agreement that Rashford would start the match prior to the team lineups being announced.
The latter suggested that Watkins, having seen off the challenge of Jhon Duran earlier this season and now challenged by the Man United loanee, “won’t be around” to be replaced for a third time in Emery’s system if he continues to be left out.
Ollie Watkins could seek a move away from Villa after Champions League snub
Speaking live on talkSPORT prior to Villa’s huge match against PSG in the Champions League, Goldstein said: “I personally think he’s [Rashford] is going to start tonight. I haven’t heard this. I just think the manager is going to start with him”.
In which Deeney replied: “He’s [Unai Emery] got a lot of got a lot of trust in him as well, because he does start him a lot. I just think it’s a weird no win situation for Marcus [Rashford] as well, because he didn’t like playing through the middle at Man United, right? But he’s obviously doing that for Villa, because he has to, he has to show that he wants to be there.
The former striker later suggested that Villa have to be careful with Watkins in the situation: “I do think that you have to manage the situation very carefully, because you could lose Ollie Watkins as well.
“Long term his [Watkins] place is in jeopardy. He’ll feel like he’s just seen off Jhon Duran, who everyone fell in love with very quickly and he could argue, so now you’ve got Rashford you tried to replace me twice, I won’t be around for the third time”.
Emery’s decision backfired early as Rashford lost the ball high up the pitch after 11 minutes and Luis Enrique’s men streaked down the other end and Achraf Hakimi drifted off an oblivious Lucas Digne to fire home after Emi Martinez’s handling error, with Nuno Mendes adding a second midway through the half.
Marcus Rashford is the preferred striker for Unai Emery as it stands
Football Insider Verdict
Despite not enjoying his time playing through the middle at Man United, it seems Emery’s preference is to utilise Rashford there for Villa.
It begs the question of what the Spaniard is actually looking for from his striker, with Rashford having less goal involvements this season than Watkins.
