Manchester City star Jack Grealish was very impressed with Aston Villa forward Ollie Watkins after their win over West Ham United yesterday.
The £28m England international took to social media after an 11th straight home victory in the league.
The job Unai Emery has done in his first year at Aston Villa has been nothing short of exceptional.
The club were wondering if they were going to be drawn into a relegation battle last year when Steven Gerrard was sacked.
However, the turnaround under Emery was rapid and, in the end, they managed to qualify for the Europa Conference League ahead of Tottenham.
Given the Spanish coach’s pedigree in Europe, you wouldn’t bet against them going all the way in that competition this season.
Villa outplayed the Hammers yesterday and despite a nervy moment following Jarrod Bowen’s goal in the second half, they ended up running out comfortable winners.
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A Douglas Luiz brace stole the headlines but Ollie Watkins was once again brilliant at the top of the pitch.
Watkins recorded a goal and an assist and Jack Grealish was very impressed with his old Villa teammate.
There are few players in the league in better form than the 27-year-old.
Grealish impressed with Watkins after Villa’s win
Posting on Instagram after the match, Watkins said: “Cmon!!! Big team performance. Villa Park bouncing. Sunday evening win.”
Jack Grealish called the forward: “Top”, while Emi Martinez simply replied: “Golazo.”
Defender Ezri Konsa called Watkins: “Ma boy” after he won the penalty for Luiz’s second goal.
Jamie Carragher claimed during the match that Emery has completely transformed Watkins since he joined the club.
Watkins admitted that he’s not sure Villa’s fans appreciate him enough, although he’s likely more popular with them than Grealish was when he departed the club.
He already has five goals and five assists in the league this season, with only Mohamed Salah recording more goal contributions.
He’s a man in form and if he can keep this up then there’s no doubt he’ll be part of the England squad going to the European Championships next summer.