OLLIE WATKINS’ wife Ellie fought back tears as she issued an emotional farewell to Aston Villa after moving to Saudi Arabia.
Watkins, 30, moved to Al-Hilal after six glittering years at Villa that saw him registering 108 goals and 47 assists in 278 appearances that included Champions League outings and a Europa League triumph.
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The striker’s exit from Villa Park included a short period of acrimony as he refused to play in the Premier League opener at Brighton that saw Unai Emery’s side getting thrashed 4-0 in a disastrous start .
But the England international returned to apologise to Villa manager Emery before his switch to the Middle East was confirmed and later issued a touching farewell video to the fans.
Ellie, 30, followed suit after she, her husband and their children Amara, 4, and Marley, 3 arrived in Riyadh.
The content creator shared a clip on TikTok where she choked up as she discussed how hard it’s been leaving their lives in the UK.
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Ellie said: “Okay, well that wasn’t on my bingo card for 2026.
“We are in Riyadh, we arrived in Saudi last night and I think I’m still in shock to be honest like how life can change so quickly but that is the joys of football.
“I’ve always actually said how lucky I think we are because we’ve been at Villa for six years which in football terms is actually quite a long time.
“We’ve had our children there, we’ve had quite big life events so it feels bittersweet to me. I loved my life there, I settled so well and made the most amazing friends.
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“So I am feeling quite emotional about leaving that behind. But I am excited for a change of scenery, I think it’s going to be amazing for the kids and I think they are going to have the best time ever.
“Once we are settled and we know what we are doing, it will all be good. Getting on with our new life in Saudi, so exciting times.
“I’m also feeling a little nervous but I remember feeling like that when we moved to Birmingham so hopefully you can follow my journey in Saudi.”
Watkins, though, enjoyed a glittering start to life at Al-Hilal as he scored on his debut on Tuesday that led to a 3-0 victory over Al-Ahli.
The centre-forward has linked up with a number of notable names, such as Kalidou Koulibaly, Theo Hernandez, Yassine Bounou, Ruben Neves, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Crysencio Summerville.
They are also expected to be joined by Gabriel Martinelli, who is heading out of Arsenal.
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