As far as Ollie Watkins is concerned, it is about playing well and scoring goals. Nothing more. As long as he does the business for Aston Villa, everything else will follow and that includes England call-ups. And yet the striker is not so sure.
Watkins has posted particularly impressive numbers since Unai Emery took over from Steven Gerrard as the Villa manager last October: 21 goals and eight assists in 39 appearances in all competitions. But it was only after his hat-trick in the 6-1 win against Brighton at the end of September (when he also registered an assist), which followed him getting the only goal in Villa’s previous Premier League game at Chelsea, that he was again named by Gareth Southgate in the England squad.
Even then, the manager made it clear that Callum Wilson’s injury-enforced absence was a factor in opening up space for a No 9. Watkins’s previous involvement was in March 2022 when he won his seventh cap against Ivory Coast and scored his second goal. He hopes to be involved against Australia on Friday night and perhaps even Italy next Tuesday.
“I think I go under the radar, maybe,” Watkins says. “I’m not talked about enough, profile-wise. I know I have been producing on the pitch since [Emery] came in but it goes a little bit under the radar …”
It is not, Watkins says, because he plays for Villa, outside the ubiquitous big six and the Champions League. Rather, he feels it is because he does not put himself out there as much as others and by that he means his presence on social media. Watkins does not have an account on X, formerly known as Twitter, while he has treated his 373,000 Instagram followers to 11 posts since the start of the season.
Watkins does not want it to matter. He says on more than one occasion that he is “not too fussed” about social media. But the more you listen to him, and the more he listens to some of his advisers, the more you suspect he is beginning to wonder.
“A lot of people have said to me I need to push my profile,” Watkins says. “A guy I work with commercially is always saying to post more on Instagram. It’s kind of … I wouldn’t want to put anything out there that’s not authentic and not myself.
“It’s hard being a footballer on social media because you can’t put exactly what you think. I can’t put: ‘I had a stinker today and missed three chances, should have scored.’
“My saying has always been: ‘Just be good at football, the rest will take care of itself.’ If I’m scoring 30 goals a year and someone wants to do a sponsorship deal with me, they are going to want to do it because I’m doing well on the pitch. Whereas if I’m not and I’m trying to push my socials, it reflects … [badly].”
The upshot is that Watkins feels he has had to do even more to get his England recall. “All the other strikers in the squad score goals,” he says. “So I know I need to be scoring as much as them if not more to get into the team.”
It is also no great stretch to think that a higher-profile player might have got the penalty Watkins was denied in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Wolves; he looked to be pushed over by Matt Doherty. Watkins is a guy who keeps himself to himself, as he puts it. “I wouldn’t say I was the loudest in the room, it definitely takes me a while to warm up,” he says. “I’m OK with silence … I can just listen. It doesn’t mean I am boring and have nothing to say. I am happy in my own skin and quite calm.”
Watkins admits he can be overly harsh on himself, his own worst critic, especially if he misses an easy chance during a run without a goal. “It picks at me … it’s something I’ve worked on [not to do].”
What is impossible to ignore is Watkins’s prediction that he will get 20 goals this season (without penalties, as he has been stood down as Villa’s spot-kick taker); the flashes of attitude, too. When he scored against Chelsea to open his account in the league, he celebrated by sticking his fingers in his ears. He wanted to make a point.
“All fans are quite fickle, I would say … I don’t want to be too controversial in this interview but I feel like, as a striker, if you go a few games without a goal people will be saying: ‘Ah, he’s on a drought, he can’t score.’ Then I score four goals in two games and everyone loves you. It’s highs and lows.”
Watkins intends to prolong the high, to continue repaying the vision and trust of Emery. “Definitely under [Steven] Gerrard … I know he played me all the time, I’ve played under all managers … but I wasn’t really getting the best out of my game,” Watkins says.
“That wasn’t down to him. I had just fallen into a rut. But I feel like I have gone on a different path and really focused on being a striker. Before I was trying to do everything, to cross it and get on the end of my own cross. Now I am just focused being the main man [up front].”
