Aston Villa rebuild on the run: Jackson nears arrival, Martínez exits, Emery eyes Arsenal debut
Aston Villa hope to have Nicolas Jackson registered in time to face Arsenal on Monday night, with the £47.5m forward lined up to replace Ollie Watkins as the club's starting striker. Unai Emery called the move a "new chapter" — and Villa need one quickly. Watkins, the club's record Premier League goalscorer with 91 goals in 221 league appearances, refused to play in last weekend's 4-0 defeat at Brighton, leaving Villa without a recognised striker. He had already turned down a new contract in favour of a £50m move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal. Emery said Watkins's departure reduced him to tears. The combined £50m fees banked for Watkins and defender Ezri Konsa — who has also left the club — the manager called "crazy" given their ages, with Watkins turning 31 in December and Konsa 29 in October.
Jackson is Emery's No 1 target to fill the gap, and the pair already share a working relationship from their time together at Villarreal. The fee could rise to a club-record £65m with add-ons — performance-related bonus payments built into the transfer. Jackson arrived at Chelsea from Villarreal in June 2023 and extended his contract to 2033 in 2024, but Chelsea have been selling forwards this summer, with Jackson set to follow Liam Delap out of Stamford Bridge as the club prepares a €40m replacement signing, according to Yahoo Sports.
Villa are also finalising a deal for 18-year-old Paris Saint-Germain winger Ibrahim Mbaye, a Senegal teammate of Jackson. The club had pushed to sign Rafael Leão from Milan, but the Portuguese winger was poised to join Galatasaray instead. As of August 28, neither the Jackson nor the Mbaye deal had been formally confirmed.
The reshaping extends well beyond the forward line. Leon Goretzka, signed from Bayern Munich on Thursday, could make his debut against Arsenal. In goal, Zion Suzuki — a £30m arrival from Parma — may feature for the first time, replacing Emiliano Martínez, who is close to completing a £7.5m move to Chelsea.
For Villa fans, Monday's match against Arsenal carries more weight than the usual opening-weekend fixture. A team that lost its record scorer, its starting goalkeeper, and a long-serving defender in the same window is asking supporters to trust a rebuilt side on the pitch before the ink on the new signings is dry. Jackson and Mbaye are not yet confirmed. Goretzka only landed on Thursday. The window closes the day after the Arsenal match, leaving no margin for delay.
What stands out is the scale and speed of it all. Emery has lost players who scored his goals and kept his clean sheets, and he is being asked to replace them, bed them in, and pick up points simultaneously. Jackson knows the manager's system from Villarreal. That familiarity is the one thing Villa can rely on while everything else still has to be signed off.
