Aston Villa: Paul Merson on Unai Emery future and says it's 'disgusting' if Ollie Watkins refused to play
Aston Villa have endured a nightmare start to the season, losing 4-0 to Brighton in their Premier League opener after a summer in which they sold several key stars; watch Aston Villa vs Arsenal live on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football next week from 6.30pm, kick-off 8pm
Wednesday 26 August 2026 15:52, UK
In his latest Sky Sports column, Paul Merson assesses Aston Villa's dreadful start to the season following their heavy defeat at Brighton.
Following a summer that saw them sell a spine of key players in Ezri Konsa, Youri Tielemans and Morgan Rogers, Villa found themselves 4-0 down to Brighton after 30 minutes, and ended up losing by the same scoreline.
- Transfer Centre LIVE! | Aston Villa news & transfers🦁
- Aston Villa fixtures & scores | FREE Villa highlights▶️
- Got Sky? Watch Premier League games LIVE on your phone📱
- Not got Sky? Latest Sky Sports deals or stream PL games with no contract📺
The transfer sagas are not over at Villa - with Ollie Watkins not involved against Brighton amid interest from Saudi Arabia and goalkeeper Emi Martinez also missing the game.
Read below to hear the Magic Man's thoughts...
It breaks your heart to see Villa like this - I don't see Unai Emery staying.
You sell all your best players, what do you expect? I didn't expect them to be 4-0 down in 30 minutes, but I didn't expect them to beat Brighton.
It's madness at the highest level. We're talking about a big, big football club that just got in the Champions League, won a European trophy - and then sold all their best players.
They have been active in the transfer window with the likes Johan Manzambi, Matteo Ruggeri and Alejandro Garnacho coming in, but I do worry for Villa this season. I don't expect them to go down, of course not. But I don't expect them to finish in the top half even with a top manager like Emery.
If Emery's not fed up with this situation, then he's some person. This situation is very rare. We saw Spurs win a European cup and finish 17th. He won the same European cup and finished fourth.
There's obviously nothing out there to suggest he could go right now. But I don't see Emery hanging around for long if things continue like this. We're talking about one of the top managers in the game, and everyone seems to be leaving him left, right and centre.
We're talking Aston Villa, who I played for and are a great, great club. It breaks your heart when you see what's happening.
They've just fought to get to the promised land of Champions League football, winning a European trophy. Now it's time to kick on. And they've sold everyone that's top drawer.
Whoever did that contract for Youri Tielemans where he inserted a £36m release clause should be under scrutiny.
Teams who are going to finish fourth-bottom or third-bottom this season are paying £35m for players. That is just an absolute cup of tea in this day and age of football.
Everybody goes for more than that now. It's the deal of the century. He's got to perform when he gets to Manchester United, but that can't happen if you're Villa. You can't put a clause in that says £35m for one of the best midfield players in the country.
And again, the Ezri Konsa deal. An international centre-half, just been to the World Cup and he goes for £55m. It's sad.
'Disgusting' if Watkins refused to play against Brighton
If it's true that Ollie Watkins was fit to play in that Brighton game and he didn't make himself available, then that's disgusting at the highest level.
You're getting paid a lot of money. People are sitting in the Holte End and they pay a lot of money for season tickets and for travelling up and down the country - and you can't put yourself out to play a football match?
"Ask him. I only can answer it by silence."
You've got the best job in the whole wide world. You're playing in the Premier League, you're playing centre forward, you're earning fortunes, you're getting paid to stay fit.
I understand that his head's been turned. It's a lot of money being offered by Saudi Arabia and he's not a spring chicken anymore.
But think of the fans as well. You have to want to play football. Every one of those fans in the Holte End will give their right arm to play that game the other day.
He should come and apologise [if he refused to play]. I don't know what he gets out of not playing. If you're Aston Villa, you should say to him: 'I'm not paying you this week'. Because your job literally is to turn up at a weekend and play a football match.
