Ollie and Ellie Watkins are two months into their Saudi Arabian adventure, but so far it seems to have been a difficult transition, despite the striker’s staggering tax free wage
Ollie Watkins’ wife seemed to suggest her family is struggling in Saudi Arabia, saying she is ‘praying it all gets better soon’.
Ollie and Ellie Watkins are starting their new life in Riyadh after the former Aston Villa star’s mega money move to Al-Hilal in August. She knew they would take some time to settle, but it appears the transition is really challenging if her latest social media posts are anything to go by.
After other WAGs struggled with similar relocations, Ellie always knew it would take a while to acclimatise to their new surroundings. They moved after England attacker Ollie said goodbye to Birmingham and to the Premier League when he became one of the highest paid players in the world.
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The star striker is said to be earning a staggering £400,000 a week tax free after agreeing the transfer to the Middle East, an eye-watering sum which works out at almost £57,000 a day. But he joined the Saudi Pro League after committing to a three-year contract – meaning they will be there until at least 2029.
The £51million deal to take him to the Middle East left his influencer wife Ellie with mixed emotions as she and the couple’s two young children, Amara, five, and Marley, three, said goodbye to home and their families.
Their dad may be earning four times as much at his new club, but it is far from home – and the kids’ mum has already hinted that life isn’t perfect.
In one photo she uploaded to her Instagram Story, she takes Amara’s hand as they watch a TV show on her phone. Above the image is a telling caption, “Holding my babies close praying it all gets better soon”.
In another post, she stands with toddler Marley in their hallwall of their incredible home. “I’ve been so quiet on here, sorry… just trying to move to another country and being a mum has been a lot”. She ended it with a melted face emoji, which usually signals some type of emotional stress.
She isn’t alone in finding things demanding in the UAE. Other WAGs have struggled to adapt after leaving the UK for Saudi, with Taylor Ward saying she was unhappy after husband Riyad Mahrez left Manchester City to play for Al-Ahli.
Taking to TikTok to tell her million-plus followers about the huge change in her family’s life in August, the social media star says she didn’t see such a move coming after Ollie’s impressive season in England, which saw the forward life the Europa League with Villa back in May.
“Okay, well that wasn’t on my bingo card for 2026,” she said after the move was confirmed over the weekend. “We are in Riyadh, we arrived in Saudi last night and I think I’m still in shock to be honest like how life can change so quickly but that is the joys of football.
“I’ve always actually said how lucky I think we are because we’ve been at Villa for six years which in football terms is actually quite a long time.
“We’ve had our children there, we’ve had quite big life events so it feels bittersweet to me. I loved my life there, I settled so well and made the most amazing friends.”
Ollie first fell for Ellie eight years ago when he was plying his trade in the Championship for Brentford. The pair were introduced through mutual friends, as revealed on Amazon Prime’s The New Generation.
The couple married at Marylebone Town Hall in London last year, which they followed with a larger celebration in the South of France in June.
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