‘Even better than Haaland’ – Aston Villa told why Watkins is superior to Man City ace; 2024 Monchi signing also lauded

Former England striker Emile Heskey has outlined why Aston Villa ace Ollie Watkins might actually be superior to Manchester City’s Erling Haaland despite the latter scoring more goals, while a recent Monchi signing has also been lauded.

Watkins bagged a career-best 19 goals in the Premier League last season to help fire Aston Villa into the Champions League. His heroics at Villa Park also entrenched the 28-year-old in England’s set-up at international level.

Haaland, meanwhile, won the Premier League’s golden boot for the second time in two seasons. The Man City megastar scored 27 goals in 31 matches as City secured their fourth title on the bounce.

One look at the goals tally suggests Haaland is the superior player, though per Heskey – who won 62 caps for England – there’s more to the story.

“I think they’ve (Aston Villa) got the best striker in the league after Erling Haaland in Ollie Watkins,” began Heskey when speaking to 10bet.

“There’s an argument to be made that Watkins could be on par or even better than Haaland at this moment in time because of his all-round game and what he gives Aston Villa on top of the goals that he scores.

“At Man City, Haaland doesn’t really need to get that involved with the play, whereas Watkins has to be involved all the time at Villa.”

Heskey impressed with Morgan Rogers

Watkins expertly leads the line for Unai Emery’s side, though he’s capably backed up by Morgan Rogers who often frequents the spaces behind Villa’s lone striker.

Aston Villa signed Rogers from Middlesbrough last January in a deal worth just £8m (rising to £15m through add-ons).

The 22-year-old has already made a mockery of that price tag and Heskey is suitably impressed with what he’s seen so far.

“I really like the recruitment at Villa with Emery and Monchi,” continued Heskey. “Morgan Rogers has been a revelation since he joined the club.

“The kids obviously got good pedigree as he started his career in Manchester City’s academy, but he’s been given a chance in this Villa team and has really grabbed it.”

Haaland exit claims / Villa’s big January signing

In other news, Spanish outlet Sport claim Barcelona president Joan Laporta is going ‘all out’ to sign Haaland in either 2025 or 2026.

However, TEAMtalk understands Man City have no intention of offloading their lethal frontman any time soon.

We’ve also been told that if Haaland were to leave – on the back of the Man City being severely punished for alleged FFP breaches, for example – the striker is more likely to join Real Madrid over Barcelona.

Elsewhere, Football Insider claim Villa are ready to flex their muscles and make a potentially record-breaking move for Castelllo Lukeba in January.

The RB Leipzig centre-back is valued around the £60m mark. A transfer of that size would make the Frenchman Villa’s all-time most expensive signing.

Haaland top, Watkins sixth in 2024 scoring charts