Ollie Watkins completes transfer from Aston Villa to Al‑Hilal

Ollie Watkins completed a transfer from Aston Villa to Saudi club Al-Hilal, a move reported on 30 August 2026. The 30-year-old England forward joined Al-Hilal for a reported £50m.

Watkins joined Villa from Brentford in 2020 and reached double figures in goals in every season he spent 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.”

Aston Villa have also sold Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Ezri Konsa and Emiliano Martínez in this transfer window, with Martínez joining Chelsea on Sunday.

Roma strengthened their squad by signing Marten De Roon from Atalanta and Leonardo Balerdi 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.

The former Serie A MVP Rafael Leão has completed a €38m transfer from Milan to Galatasaray, with the Turkish side confirming the deal.

Galatasaray confirmed they have signed the Portugal winger to a four-year contract with a net salary of €10m per season.