Troy Deeney set for Watford exit

TROY DEENEY looks set for the Watford exit door after new boss Marco Silva refused to back the striker to carry on as captain.

Deeney, who captained the Hornets since 2014, fell out with ex-boss Walter Mazzarri last term and was wanted by Leicester and West Brom. But Vicarage Road fans demanded Mazzarri change his mind over the 29-year-old, who was the club’s top scorer last term with ten goals.

Now Deeney’s seven-year spell in Hertfordshire appears to be coming to an end as Silva declined to give him any commitment over the armband.

Asked if he could confirm Deeney would be his leader, Silva said: “We need to wait for the first match that he plays and then I will see.

“I don’t have a reason to change but I haven’t spoken to my players about my decision and always with me the players are first to know.

“In this moment I don’t have a reason to change our captain but if I will change, Troy and the others will know first.”

Silva was equally non-committal over Deeney’s future with Watford. The Portuguese boss added: “For me it is not important to talk about other teams, but no one has made any offers.”

Deeney had an operation on a groin injury last weekend and Silva said: “We will see if Troy is fit for the start of the season.

“The first match is not easy — he may be unavailable for Liverpool.

“So we will look at it day by day as he improves each day. He started to work with us, but he stopped for surgery.”

Silva has so far added England Under-21 pair Nathaniel Chalobah and Will Hughes along with Tom Cleverley, Kiko Femenia and Daniel Bachmann to the squad that beat the drop despite ending the season with six straight defeats. And he insisted he will have the final say on ins and outs.

He said: “Of course I have control of transfers. Since the first day we met and started talking about our squad, I have had that.

“Everyone knows my opinion. Of course it’s important to start to take decisions. But the club knows what we need to complete our squad.

“We have our targets. We will keep working hard to improve this situation because it’s clear to us what we need.”

From The Sun