Aston Villa have been here before.
Last year, it was Emi Martinez looking to leave for Manchester United. When asked about the Argentina goalkeeper's absence from last season's opening league match against Crystal Palace, head coach Unai Emery just repeated replacement Marco Bizot's name several times.
Twelve months on, for their Premier League opener at Brighton on Sunday, Ollie Watkins was the name to make Emery bristle.
"This question is for him. I can answer only with my silence," he said, when asked why the striker was not included.
Al-Hilal, who have offered close to £40m, are not near to Aston Villa's asking price. As next Tuesday's transfer deadline nears, Villa will play hardball for their all-time record Premier League goalscorer.
A deal is still believed to be some way off, even if Emery revealed last week the striker could leave.
Al-Hilal, who signed Crysensio Summerville from West Ham in July, are likely to need to move one of their overseas players to make room for Watkins, despite loaning Darwin Nunez to Diriyah last week, so there are other moving parts in the deal.
Watkins has been training on his own, having returned from an extended break following the World Cup and is understood to have made his feelings clear to the Villa hierarchy about moving.
There have been no public comments from Watkins or his representatives but he is understood to be open to the move.
Another unanswered question is whether Villa see the Saudi money for a striker turning 31 in December - and who had been in and out of Emery's team last season - as a good deal.
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