When Aston Villa sold Ollie Watkins to Al Hilal for around 51m on 30 August and replaced him with Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea for E55m, plenty of people called it a downgrade. Watkins was Villa’s talisman, their guarantee of goals. Jackson was Chelsea’s nearly-man — talented, erratic and never quite trusted.

​When Aston Villa sold Ollie Watkins to Al Hilal for around 51m on 30 August and replaced him with Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea for E55m, plenty of people called it a downgrade. Watkins was Villa’s talisman, their guarantee of goals. Jackson was Chelsea’s nearly-man — talented, erratic and never quite trusted.