Ollie Watkins Left Out as Brighton Thrash Aston Villa 4-0

Emery deflects the Ollie Watkins question

Asked whether leaving Watkins out was his call, Emery told Match of the Day: "This question is for him. You can call him and try to get his answer. The players here wanted to play and we had two strikers with a small injury. The question on Watkins is for him." Reacting to the defeat, he said his side "must accept everything".

It's a difficult one. He's been an amazing player and a record goalscorer – my job as captain is to get the best out of all the players that are here today.

John McGinn, speaking to Sky Sports

Villa's record scorer could be the next European hero to leave in this summer's transfer window. Having ended a 30-year trophy wait by beating Freiburg in the Europa League final in May, Villa have already sold Ezri Konsa to Arsenal, Lucas Digne to Paris St-Germain and Youri Tielemans, while Morgan Rogers joined Chelsea for £117m, a record fee for an English player. Emi Martinez was absent after a failed Juventus move, with Zion Suzuki signed as a replacement.

"We are building the team. Last year and two years ago we were building the team in August," Emery said. Six of the XI that started in Istanbul could be gone by the end of the window – on this evidence, the rebuild is far from finished.