'Fuming' Ollie Watkins sends message to manager Unai Emery in candid interview over snubbing

A ‘fuming’ Ollie Watkins sends a message to manager Unai Emery in what was a candid interview over Champions League snubbing.

His frustration came from being benched for both legs of Aston Villa’s Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain, where he played only 20 minutes in each match.

He spoke to Sky Sports after scoring and assisting in Villa’s 4-1 Premier League win over Newcastle, Watkins admitted he was “fuming” over Unai Emery’s decision to start Marcus Rashford instead.

Watkins expressed desire to start in big games given his key role in Villa’s success, scoring just 33 seconds into the Newcastle match, and his assist for Ian Maatsen’s goal were a direct response to the snub, showcasing his determination to reclaim his spot.

The performance moved Villa to sixth in the Premier League, level on points with fifth-placed Nottingham Forest, boosting their Champions League qualification hopes.

Watkins’ comments and display have sparked speculation about his future, with Villa rejecting a £40m Arsenal bid in January and Emery reportedly seeking a new striker, though no firm decision on Watkins’ long-term role has been confirmed.

“The manager’s got a bit of a headache because I’m banging on his door… I was fuming I wasn’t playing against PSG!” 😅

Ollie Watkins says he hasn’t shied away from letting Unai Emery know his frustrations with lack of game time at Aston Villa 👀 pic.twitter.com/CSA2ABth1r

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 19, 2025

Ollie’s full post-match interview following yesterday’s 4-1 victory over Newcastle United ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/2lr1bTU8c9

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) April 20, 2025

😠 “It’s fantastic to be angry”

Unai Emery says Ollie Watkins’ frustration of being a substitute in recent games is understandable. pic.twitter.com/erYnZWVc4d

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 20, 2025

“I played 20 minutes against PSG in both games. I am not going to lie, I was fuming that I wasn’t playing – I let him [Unai Emery] know that,” Watkins told Sky Sports.

“He’s the manager, you have to respect his decision, [but] I am not one of these players happy to sit on the bench.

“It is something I have not experienced before, to miss out on the biggest stage. I wanted to be out on the pitch for much longer. I have played a big part to get to where we are today and I want to play in those games.”

Watkins, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: “Delighted, Newcastle are an unbelievable team, third in the league for a reason and we created a lot of problems for them today.

“Unbelievable performance from the boys. Our home form is really good and we just need to keep pushing now.”

On scoring after 33 seconds: “Nice to see it hit the back of the net. A great start for us, it’s what we need in home games. Previously we’ve started a bit sloppy, maybe gone behind and had to work teams out and build up patiently. That wasn’t the case today. A quickfire goal which was nice.”

On hitting the woodwork: “I’ve hit the post quite a few times, it’s quite unfortunate. I can’t do too much more. I was fortunate that my first goal went in off the defenders leg and I needed a bit of luck with the others.”

On being a goal away from becoming Villa’s leading Premier League goalscorer: “It’s a great achievement for myself personally. You need to celebrate the little wins, how far I’ve come and how difficult it is to play consistently in the Premier League and score goals.

“I’m not letting anyone take that away from me. When I do it, I’ll enjoy it.”

On second-half performance: “Quickfire goals are the way to kill a game off. When you’re on top, really punish them and we did that today, we were really clinical. We had a lot of joy.”

On the next week: “It’s a really big week for us, Man City you never know what to expect, we can’t underestimate them, it’s going to be tough and we’ve got to win the games ahead because we want that Champions League spot.”

When questioned about Watkins’ comments, Emery replied: “It’s fantastic to be angry and fantastic for him to play like he did [against Newcastle].”

Watkins believes Emery will now have “a headache” over his next starting XI.

“I’m banging on the door asking why I’m not playing,” he added, while also pointing out Villa’s strength in depth.

“Since I have been at Villa, a lot of fans would say it is the best squad we have had.

“The signings we made in January, players like Rashford and [Marco] Asensio coming in, the quality means players like myself have to drop to the bench and there’s going to be lots of rotation.”

Dion Dublin, told BBC Match of the Day: “I am delighted, why wouldn’t be fuming? You can imagine his frustration. Be honest and tell people what you think.”

Jamie Redknapp said Watkins’ performance was “dynamite” and believes the striker “has turned a massive negative into a positive”.

“He has played with anger. I have been here, you are fuming and want to knock the manager’s door down. He channelled that in the right way.”

That’ll be Oliver George Arthur Watkins to you. pic.twitter.com/424YmmfG7h

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) April 19, 2025

Ollie Watkins has now scored 15+ goals in each of his last three Premier League campaigns:

2022/23 – 15 goals, 6 assists2023/24 – 19 goals, 13 assists2024/25 – 15 goals, 6 assists

Consistent. 💪 pic.twitter.com/onF8l9UuWB

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 19, 2025

Gabby Agbonlahor 🤝 Ollie Watkins ✨#AVLNEW #AVFC pic.twitter.com/o5wqD6XoTt

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) April 19, 2025

Twitter users reacted after a fFuming’ Ollie Watkins sends a message to manager Unai Emery in a candid interview over the snubbing…

@0neAstonVilla: To be fair to Unai he got both Ollie and Rashford fired up and he got two great performances from them, Rashford against PSG was superb and Ollie against Newcastle today, isn’t that what good managers are supposed to do !

@DanB5826: Brilliant performance today from Ollie, should have broken Gabby’s Prem league goals record in the first half but won’t be long now! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

@RichieLionel81: Felt gutted for him too but in truth if he’d played anything like he did today in the last 6 weeks he’d have been in the team. I live ollie, massive fan but his form had been really poor. He needs to stay at todays level now

@v21eal: Not great to come out and say that. He scored but let’s be honest was a deflection. His finishes lets him down to be unstoppable as the work rate and athleticism are bettered by mcginn

@Fitzy__1986: Huge step towards CL Qualification against an inform team. Great goals and Watkins with a fantastic performance! Giving Emery sleepless nights and that’s what we want lol #UTV

@DanB5826: Emery has handled Watkins brilliantly this season.Clearly wasn’t fit after the Euros & his form has been up & down but he still has plenty of goals. Bringing Rashford in has worked well as I do feel he was getting complacent. Angry performance from him last night, top class #avfc

@mattmellberg: Superb today. His best and most complete performance of the season. When he’s like that, nobody better.

@Mobleyclan1980: Interesting stuff with Watkins- My take is that he hasn’t been playing as well as Emery would have liked and we have strong competition, unlike the past, so have used that effectively! I hope the anger he has drives him on but it is clear that his standards had dropped #avfc

@NicolaPartridg2: Emery has always respected and rated Watkins. Even though the experts on VT believe they know better. The reality of squad football at the highest level is that you have to compete for places. Ollie knows that. Asensio can’t get into PSG’s team…that’s how it is.

@_stonyd: Great response from Unai