Emery accepted Duran’s departure but urged Villa to stick onto Watkins

Coach Unai Emery was questioned about the futures of Jhon Duran and Ollie Watkins despite Aston Villa’s Champions League last-16 victory on Wednesday. The Spaniard was certain that he wanted to keep one player while seemed to be content to lose the other.

Prior to kickoff, a number of British media outlets stated that Arsenal, the Premier League championship contenders, had made a bid for Villa striker Watkins. During Wednesday’s game, additional rumors surfaced that Duran is getting closer to moving to Saudi Arabia in January.

As Villa secured a top eight finish in the Champions League first round, Watkins scored a critical third goal before missing a penalty against Celtic. However, the outcome was not the main topic of conversation among reporters after the game.

According to Emery, “I don’t want (to sell Watkins),” with reporters. “Having offers from other clubs is excellent news. With the players in our group, we want to maintain our sporting goal.

“If it benefits both the player and the team, any player can be in the market. We will be demanding in order to secure this arrangement. Our striker is Watkins.

“We developed Duran over the course of two years, so it would be excellent for us if he goes because they are paying significant money. I was always trying to give him advise because he was such a great young player. However, the athlete has goals and aspirations, and if he decides to leave, it’s because he wants to pursue a different career path.”

On Villa’s great night, which marked the end of the league phase of their first campaign back in Europe’s top club competition since 1982–83, Emery showed his irritation at the timing of these tales.

Villa won 4-2 thanks to a hat-trick from Morgan Rogers. They will now advance directly to the round of 16 and avoid the playoffs.

“We have a lot of speculation around the players in the squad but they’re showing us they are mature and responsible with these performances,” Emery stated.

“We take great pride in the work we have done this year. Because there are so many good clubs vying for a spot in the Champions League, it is exceedingly hard to get into the Premier League.

“But it’s very important how we got here, from where we started.”