England striker Ollie Watkins‘ wife Ellie is fleeing Saudi Arabia to seek ‘normality’ for their children amid deadly missile attacks in the Middle East.
Ollie and Ellie, 31 and 30, moved to Saudi capital Riyadh in the summer with their two children after a £51million transfer from Aston Villa to Al-Hilal. But the recent deadly re-escalation of the Houthi-Saudi Arabia conflict has sparked a move back home for the family – with no end date in sight.
The Watkins family have two young children – Amara, five, and three-year-old Marley. Ellie initially admitted she had broken down in tears over the move but later felt ‘everything was coming together’. Ellie and the children are now fleeing.
‘We’ve had a bit of a plot twist,’ Ellie said in a post on TikTok today. ‘I have come back to the UK for, hopefully, a little bit. I don’t actually know when.
Major airports in Saudi Arabia are operating reduced services after a missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi movement on Riyadh’s airport killed 13 people. Two people were also killed after an attack at King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.
‘There’s just a little bit of conflict and things going on over in Saudi and we basically decided just to stay here until it calms down,’ Ellie added.
Ollie Watkins and wife Ellie moved to Saudi Arabia following his £50m summer transfer (Source: Instagram/Ellie Watkins)
Ellie has now returned to the UK amid missile attacks in Saudi (Source: Instagram/Ellie Watkins)
‘I felt like I needed to do that for the kids so there is some form of normality until we can get back out there and all be together.’
Husband Ollie is hoping for a call-up to the England squad this week and will continue to play in the Saudi Pro League while his family reside in the UK.
Saudi football experts have suggested the striker, who has five goals and five assists in eight Saudi Pro League appearances so far, earns ‘a minimum of £20million a year’ – tax-free.
Al-Hilal play Shabab AlAhli, of Dubai, in the Asian Champions League today.
Ollie and Ellie have been settling into a new home, redecorating and finding schools for their children in Riyadh. Those plans have now been derailed.
Meanwhile, football’s 2027 Asia Cup has been delayed by almost a year amid the ongoing Middle East crisis. The Six Kings Slam tennis exhibition event has also been called off while Formula One is expected to move its end-of-season races.
Ellie had said moving to Saudi Arabia has ‘been a lot’ but ‘everything’s finally coming together’ – posting photos of their new life together (Source: Instagram/Ellie Watkins)
The WAG shared a snap of their stylish living room as she added: ‘Everything’s finally coming together and we’re so happy in our new home’ (Source: Instagram/Ellie Watkins)
Less than two months before it was due to kick off, the Asia Cup was today postponed until December 2027.
It makes the tournament not only a logistical nightmare for the 24 participating teams but also raises serious safety concerns.
A statement from the Asian Football Confederation said: ‘The Organising Committee for AFC Asian Cup approved rescheduling the flagship national team tournament considering the current exceptional circumstances arising from developments in the region, including substantial logistical complexities and travel disruptions.
‘The new dates of the tournament (December 23 2027 to January 21 2028) will be presented to FIFA for approval.
‘Exceptional circumstances have been created for the organisation and delivery of the Competition as originally scheduled, making the postponement necessary in the interest of all participating teams, officials, spectators and other stakeholders.’
However, the delay boosts several Premier League clubs, who no longer face losing players for up to a month of the season. Japan had ten Premier League players available for selection, with Aston Villa potentially losing first-choice goalkeeper Zion Suzuki.
