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Ollie Watkins in honest ‘two years’ Aston Villa prediction by Agbonlahor

Ollie Watkins set the Premier League alight with Aston Villa under Unai Emery to the delight of Gabby Agbonlahor, who now predicts the forward will break a club record.

The 27-year-old turned a corner with his performances once Emery replaced Steven Gerrard in charge of the Birmingham natives. Watkins had scored just one goal across his 11 Premier League appearances under the England hero. Yet he ended the season with 15 in 37 outings.

Aston Villa sacking Gerrard in October freed Watkins to find his best form again. The striker had not scored in the top-flight since finding the back of the net at Crystal Palace in August. Yet he only needed 59 minutes under caretaker manager Aaron Danks to break his drought.

Photo by Andrew Kearns - CameraSport via Getty Images
Photo by Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images

Ollie Watkins’ exceptional form merited interest in his transfer

Emery’s arrival at Villa Park would then keep Watkins’ momentum flowing as he laid on two assists and scored once in his first three appearances under the Spaniard. January then saw the seven-cap England star explode with 11 goals and two further assists in 12 appearances.

A goal on the final day of the campaign against Brighton & Hove Albion took Watkins to 13 from 24 Premier League appearances under Emery. While his form also merited interest in the forward’s potential transfer from top-flight rivals and even from clubs on the continent.

The reported in April that Bayern Munich sent scouts to watch Watkins in action as Aston Villa played Fulham. Additionally, noted in June that Manchester United also scouted Watkins during 2022/23. His proven top-flight record attracted the Red Devils.

Photo by Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images
Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images

What has Gabby Agbonlahor said about Ollie Watkins at Aston Villa?

Yet Aston Villa hero Agbonlahor does not seem to sense Watkins will leave the Birmingham natives anytime soon. Instead, the former Villans captain has now predicted that the , rising to £33m, arrival from Brentford in September 2020 is going to break his club record.

“The stand out one, for me, was Ollie Watkins,” Agbonlahor told . “I thought he was in frightening form. He’ll get my goalscoring record in the next two years! I’m happy for him. He’s committed, works hard and he’s getting better every game.”

Agbonlahor currently has Aston Villa’s club record for the most goals in the Premier League with 74. He played 322 times in the top-flight for the club from 2006 to 2016. The 36-year-old also had 50 assists but did not also play as a centre-forward with outings on the wings.

Watkins, meanwhile, has scored 40 goals and laid on 13 assists across 109 Premier League appearances for Aston Villa. The 2022/23 campaign was also his most productive with 15 goals and six assists. It bettered his return of 14 goals and five assists in his debut season.