Villa boss Unai Emery has made the surprising decision to drop Watkins for Sunday's West Midlands derby with Wolverhampton Wanderers, a move that has sparked reports suggesting that the England star may force his way out of the side.
The 29-year-old has scored just once in 19 appearances across all competitions for Villa this season. Compared to last season’s 16 goals in 38 games, Watkins seems like a completely different player over the past few months.
Watkins needs to leave Villa
Speaking on talkSPORT, Pardew suggested that Watkins must leave Villa to recover his form and be part of a team that fully appreciates him and his qualities which he has proven over the past few years.
"I think Ollie wants to move, if I’m honest. And I think he has a fairly good reason because when they got to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and he got left out for a player on loan in (Marcus) Rashford in both ties.
"(He’s) the high profile guy, he’d earned the right with all the goals that had got them there and then he doesn’t play.
"I just think there’s a bridge burned there that is difficult to come back from. I do think that relationship is broken.
"I might be wrong, but looking at his body language and everything else about him, probably best for everybody for him to move on.
"He’s a great player and to get into the England frame, he might need to move on."
Villa are reportedly after Brentford’s Thiago as a replacement, a striker who has 11 goals in 13 Premier League games under manager Keith Andrews.
Watkins currently has two-and-a-half years remaining on his deal with the club and will likely feature on the bench once more as Villa prepare to face Brighton this week. The striker has a lot of thinking to do as he comes to his 30th birthday and the January transfer window approaches.