Exeter City to Use Ollie Watkins Transfer Windfall for Long-Term Stability

Exeter City have moved quickly to reassure their supporters that any windfall from Ollie Watkins’ move to Al-Hilal will be channelled straight into the club’s future, not short-term gambles.

Watkins completed a £51m switch from Aston Villa to the Saudi Arabian side on Sunday, a deal that instantly sparked interest 3,000 miles away in Devon. Exeter, now in League Two, helped shape the England international from the age of 11 and are entitled to a slice of the fee through both a sell-on clause and Fifa’s solidarity payment scheme.

The club confirmed in a statement that they expect money to arrive, but clarity will take time. They are still “awaiting further details” on exactly how much they will receive and when it will land. The process, they warned, will not be swift.

“We do not know how long this (payment) process will take to conclude, but we do not anticipate receiving any sum before the end of the current transfer window,” the statement read. Depending on the terms, the money may not even arrive in one hit. “Subject to the terms agreed, it is also possible that payments will be in instalments over a number of years.”

What Exeter did make absolutely clear was the purpose of any income. “We can assure supporters that any sum received will be used to protect and strengthen the long-term security of the club.”

Those words carry weight at St James Park. Last season, the club were forced into painful decisions, making staff redundant as finances tightened. To stay afloat, Exeter required around £600,000 in loans from their owners, the Exeter City Supporters’ Trust – a stark reminder of how fragile life can be in the lower leagues.

Watkins’ story is woven into that reality. He joined the Grecians’ academy in 2007 at the age of 11, signed his first professional deal, and broke into the first team in 2014. Under Fifa’s solidarity mechanism, clubs that train a player between the ages of 12 and 23 receive a percentage of future transfer fees. For Exeter, that mechanism now offers a potentially transformative boost.

The exact figure remains unknown, the timeline uncertain, the structure of the payments still to be thrashed out. But for a supporter-owned club that has already leant on its fanbase to survive, even a fraction of a £51m transfer could reshape budgets, repair scars from last season, and give Exeter City room to plan rather than simply endure.