Transfer roundup: Ollie Watkins completes move to Al-Hilal from Aston Villa

Transfer roundup: Ollie Watkins completes move to Al-Hilal from Aston Villa

The England forward Ollie Watkins has joined the list of high-profile departures from Aston Villa after completing a move to the Saudi Arabian team Al-Hilal for a reported £50m.The 30-year-old has been at Villa since joining from Brentford in 2020 and reached double figures in goals every season he was at the club.In a post on Instagram published on Sunday, Watkins wrote: “6 amazing years has come to an end. Thank you for the amazing memories and always supporting me through highs and lows. Saying goodbye is never easy to this club as it’s been a massive part of my life on and off the pitch.”Villa have also sold Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Ezri Konsa and Emiliano Martínez – who joined Chelsea on Sunday – in this transfer window.Roma have stepped up their Serie A challenge with the acquisition of two captains, midfielder Marten De Roon coming over from Atalanta and centre-back Leonardo Balerdi joining from Marseille. The 35-year-old De Roon evolved into Atalanta’s skipper after a decade spent in Bergamo over two spells. He will reunite with Roma’s manager Gian Piero Gasperini, who formerly coached him at Atalanta.And the former Serie A MVP Rafael Leão has completed a €38m transfer from Milan to Galatasaray. The Turkish side confirmed a deal for the Portugal winger, signing him to a four-year contract with a net salary of €10m per season.Quick GuideHow do I sign up for sport breaking news alerts?ShowIn the Guardian app, tap the Profile settings button at the top right, then select Notifications. Turn on sport notifications.If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.If you don't have the Guardian app, download it from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for 'The Guardian'. More details soon

Original Source

Read the full article at Theguardian →

KhanList aggregates and links to publicly available news content. We do not host full articles from third-party sources. Always verify important information with original sources.