‘Bigger offers’: Ollie Watkins ‘surprised’ Aston Villa signed one-time Newcastle target

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Ollie Watkins has shared that it is ‘surprising’ that one-time Newcastle United transfer target, Diego Carlos, decided to join Aston Villa this summer given that he had ‘bigger offers’ on the table, as he told Sky Sports.

The Villa striker added that it shows how much the club’s summer signings ‘believe in the project’, with Steven Gerrard’s side chasing Europe ahead of the new Premier League campaign.

The Midlands outfit paid Champions League outfit Sevilla £26 million for Carlos’ hard-hitting talents, with Newcastle previously also looking at the player before they added Sven Botman to their ranks.

It was a coup from Villa’s perspective because Carlos, at the age of 29, has decided to swap Champions League football and possibly fighting for the La Liga title, for a team that’s not in Europe.

Villa’s new capture has been training with his new teammates for a number of weeks now, including during their pre-season tour of Australia, as Watkins shared what he’s been like.

“From what I have seen, he is a monster really,” said Watkins. “It’s surprising that he chose Villa when he’s had bigger offers.

“It’s really nice to see because they believe in the project.”

WHO WILL START ALONGSIDE CARLOS AT BOURNEMOUTH?

Tyrone Mings was previously the towering figure at the back for Villa, but he has now been stripped of the captaincy, which is a clear indication that he won’t be starting the opening Premier League game of the season against Bournemouth.

It’s a case of who starts alongside Carlos on the South Coast. Will it be Calum Chambers? Or Ezri Konsa?

The latter has just returned from injury, and since Villa’s return to the Premier League, he has been the club’s best defensive player.

But Chambers, since his January move from Arsenal, has done very well under Gerrard, including in pre-season, so could he be the one to start against Scott Parker’s men? Especially given that Gerrard signed him!

Either way, it doesn’t look like it will be Mings and it will be interesting to see how he reacts to the captain’s armband being handed over to John McGinn.