Everton were keen on Troy Deeney late in the transfer window – but he stuck around at Watford instead.
Troy Deeney’s status as Watford’s undisputed talisman appears to have come to an end. The long-serving skipper was marginalised by the unpopular Walter Mazzarri towards the end of last season but few expected him to fall ever further down the pecking order following the Italian’s departure.
That is exactly what has happened, however, with Andre Gray arriving at Watford from Burnley for a club-record fee and Brazilian talent Richarlison taking to the Premier League like a duck to water.
Consequently, new manager Marco Silva is yet to hand Deeney a single start in any of The Hornet’s six league games in 2017/18. In fact, the 29-year-old’s four substitute appearances have amounted to just 33 minutes on the pitch – quite a fall for a player who has been the posterboy of Watford’s success in the last few years.
As such, you wonder whether he has maybe stuck around at Vicarage Road one season too many. The Sun reported late in the summer transfer window that both Everton and West Brom were battling it out for Deeney’s signature.
And Everton might have been the last chance Deeney had of making a real step forwards in his Premier League career.
Watford may be four points better off than Ronald Koeman’s side at present but The Toffees should have been an intriguing destination for a powerful centre-forward – particularly with the departure of Romelu Lukaku leaving a gaping void up front.
So far, Everton have scored just four goals in six Premier League games and Deeney, though hardly the most prolific of top flight strikers, could have found himself first-choice at a club with genuine ambitions of fighting for a Champions League place.
Instead, he’s stuck on Watford’s bench.
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