By John Townley

Copyright birminghammail

Former Premier League striker Carlton Cole has questioned if Ollie Watkins’ head may have been turned over the summer, which could explain his slow start to the season. The England forward attracted interest from other Premier League clubs, but Aston Villa were unwilling to sell at the price being discussed. Back in January, Arsenal were reportedly prepared to pay around £40 million for the striker, but Villa valued him at a minimum of £60 million – so Jhon Durán was sold to Al-Nassr instead. Villa have scored just one goal in their opening five Premier League games this season, and Watkins has come under criticism as a result. “There might be a little bit of that for Ollie Watkins, his head being turned, but that’s natural,” Cole told Boyle Sports . “Say a team like Manchester United came in for you, or even Arsenal, your head’s naturally going to turn. “I don’t care who you are, you’re only human and you want to play for the biggest clubs in the country. I wouldn’t say it’s affected him that much where he’s not performing. “The goals have dried up like any other striker, it happens. And I always say, as long as you’re getting in the right positions, you’ve got nothing to worry about. “If you get into positions of maximum opportunity and you’re there regularly, and it’s just not coming off for you, we saw it with Erling Haaland even last season. “Sometimes he gets in there, but he mishits it or it goes over. It happens for strikers. It goes up and down. We’re a moody bunch. We do go on tilt sometimes when it’s not happening for us. We blame our teammates and we get in that rut. “But eventually we do come around, and if we’re in goal-scoring form, nothing else matters. So you’ve just got to find that biting point, where he was last season, scoring at will. “It will just start clicking for him because he’s a renowned talent that can put the ball in the back of the net. So I’ve got no worries about him, he’s going to be fine.” It will be interesting to see whether Unai Emery keeps Watkins in the team to face Bologna in the Europa League on Thursday night, or opts to rest him ahead of the weekend clash against Fulham. Cole has backed Villa to show improved form in the Europa League, as Emery targets his fifth triumph in the competition. “As soon as they click, they’ll be fine. It’s just when they click, that is the problem,” the former striker said. “You see it with even Liverpool right now. Even in the Premier League, they have not clicked, and they’re still winning games. They’re just grinding it out. “Sometimes you just have to give it a little bit of time. And a team like Villa, as soon as they click, they’re going to be fine. But they just need to do it fast because they’re in these other competitions where it’s going to be needed, their form’s going to be needed. “Sometimes the form actually is even better in Europe rather than the league. So we’ve got to see how that plays out too. Obviously, West Ham won the Europa Conference League but finished low. The same with Spurs last season. So let’s see what Aston Villa put their energy into this season.” Every day, the BirminghamLive football desk strive to deliver all manner of news, features and transfer-related stories as a part of our overall package of Aston Villa content. Our dedicated reporter John Townley – who you can follow on X by clicking here – follows Villa home and away and offers you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between. So much happens day to day and sometimes you can struggle to keep on top of the very latest updates as and when they occur – that’s why we have produced a daily newsletter which you can sign up to, for free, and which means you’ll have a round-up of the key stories land in your email inbox. Sign up to the Villa newsletter here . You can also get all your favourite content from BirminghamLive’s Villa team on WhatsApp. Click here to sign up for breaking updates about the biggest stories in and around the club. If you prefer reading our Villa stories on your phone, consider downloading the BirminghamLive app, in which you can personalise the content you see by selecting Villa as one of your designated topics. You can get it from Apple here and for Android here . Our weekly Aston Villa podcast, Claret And Blue, is also available to watch and listen on all major streaming services. You can subscribe to the YouTube channel here , while you can access the podcast on Spotify here and via Apple here .