Aston Villa have moved quickly to dispel any rumours of a bust-up between Steven Gerrard and forward star Ollie Watkins after reports claimed that the pair had fallen out – branding them as ‘nonsense’.
England icon Gerrard left Watkins out of his opening-day squad in the 2-0 loss at relegation favourites Bournemouth, despite Watkins scoring 11 goals in 35 Premier League appearances last season.
Instead, the Liverpool legend opted to start former Cherries talent Danny Ings up front, though he was hooked due to his poor performance on the south coast.
Rumours quickly spread that Gerrard and Watkins’s perceived fallout over the off-season was the reason for his lack of involvement in the starting XI.
But Villa’s club communications director Tommy Jordan quickly shut the rumours down, rubbishing the claims by branding them as nonsense ahead of Saturday’s tie against Everton at Villa Park.
“Absolute nonsense from this outlet once again. Some of the nonsense that has been written this week…,” Jordan said in a quote tweet of the report that claimed Villa were set to sell Watkins over his poor relations with his gaffer.
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Watkins has been one of the figureheads of the new Villa era following their return to the Premier League in 2019, with the former Brentford star managing to earn a place in the England team following his superb form last season.