EXCLUSIVE
Troy Deeney has clarified comments he made about Ollie Watkins after the Aston Villa star aimed a cheeky dig at him.
Former Watford and Birmingham striker Deeney claimed Watkins was ‘a winger trying to be a striker’ and was unconvinced by the 28-year-old in one-on-one duels.
4
Deeney continued by saying he would opt for Brentford’s Ivan Toney over Watkins when picking his England Euro 2024 squad.
In response to Deeney’s claim, Watkins celebrated his goal in Aston Villa’s 2-0 win at Arsenal last weekend by posting on Instagram with the caption: “Not bad for a winger trying to be a striker."
Not one to be denied the final word, Deeney addressed the Aston Villa striker’s post and clarified his previous comments.
“So he should,” Deeney told talkSPORT when asked about Watkins’ dig at him. “The beauty of it is when you actually listen I said it’s not a negative. So when you look at Exeter and Brentford, where did he play? On the left of a three.
Read more on Aston Villa
“When did he play up front as an out-and-out striker? This season for Villa.
“So it’s not a negative and remember what we’ve done really well is to forget what the question was which was: ‘Would you take Ivan [Toney] or would you take Ollie’ (to the Euros).
“I know both guys and I said personally I’d take Ivan. I have more confidence in Ivan going through one-on-one to finish.
“I also caveat-ed it afterwards saying I would take Ollie over Marcus Rashford.”
Most read in Football
When asked how many strikers he would take to Germany this summer, Deeney listed Watkins among two in-form Premier League strikers as back up to skipper Harry Kane.
“I’d take three strikers,” he added. “Kane Ivan, Ollie – they would be the three.”
4
4
4
“Ollie has decided to answer to me, that’s no problem, that's what he should do. I’ve met Ollie 20 or 30 times. Everyone thinks I have this vendetta against people, it’s just my opinion.
“You’re allowed to have an opinion and you’re also allowed to disagree with my opinion. The thing I find funny about it is he just beat Arsenal in a massive game and you wanna talk about me.
Martin O'Neil hits back at Troy Deeney for calling Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins 'a failed winger trying to be a striker'
“So clearly, I must be saying something half-decent because no one can say that what I’m saying is wrong because factually he’s a left-winger who is now playing as a striker.”
Deeney believes the negative way in which his opinion of Watkins has been taken is due to his club affiliation.
The 35-year-old is a staunch supporter of Villa’s bitter rivals Birmingham City and claims that is the main reason his words were taken out of context.
“It’s because I’m a Birmingham City fan and it’s just lazy journalism. But if you look, I've done five columns this year on Aston Villa and how good they’ve been. It pains me to say it but they’ve been good.”