Matt Maher: Why Ollie Watkins was always favourite to remain Unai Emery's main main at Aston Villa
It is barely a fortnight since Unai Emery said he wanted to keep Jhon Duran and Ollie Watkins together for the next 10 years.
Just as well he did so with a smile on his face.
Emery has been in football long enough to know things can quickly change and sure enough, they have. Instead of being at Villa Park for the next decade, Duran is heading out the door, off to the Saudi Pro League and Al-Nassr in a deal which could eventually be worth more than £70million.
The timing of the news, much like the rest of the Colombia international’s two-year stay, was dramatic, emerging just as Morgan Rogers put Villa 2-0 up against Celtic on Wednesday night.
Duran, his future having been thrashed out by the club’s transfer chiefs in the bowels of Villa Park in the build-up to kick-off, sat watching from the bench. At least when it came to on the pitch, it would be a quiet departure from the arena for a player whose winning goal against Bayern Munich had already confirmed his place in club folklore.
Watkins, meanwhile, was right in the heart of the action, scoring and missing a penalty just hours after it emerged he had been the subject of a bid from Arsenal.
For a short time prior to Duran’s proposed move becoming public, the debate which has raged for much of this season among supporters concerning the club’s two strikers should be starting was thrown right to the fore.
Except this time, the question was not just who should be starting but who should remain. Watkins or Duran? Suddenly, Villa had a definitive decision to make yet in hindsight, it is no real surprise Watkins is the man who stays.