"£25m to £30m" - Watford FC: A prime Troy Deeney's worth in current market debated | OneFootball

FLW's Watford fan pundit discussed how much Troy Deeney would be worth in today's market

This article is part of Football League World’s 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Troy Deeney became a Watford legend after joining the club in 2010 and spent 11 successful years at Vicarage Road, scoring goals on a prolific basis in both the Premier League and the Championship.

Deeney joined the Hornets from Walsall in 2010, and he helped the club enjoy great success in the Premier League, spending five consecutive seasons in the top-flight of English football.

Thanks to his impressive form in front of goal, Deeney was often the subject of transfer interest from other clubs, but didn't leave Vicarage Road during the peak years of his career, instead joining boyhood club Birmingham City in the summer of 2021 on a free transfer after being released from his contract a year early.

The former striker was the subject of £30million interest from Leicester City in 2016, interest from Spurs, West Brom and Fenerbache following the Hornets' relegation in 2020, and Deeney also claims he rejected a move to Arsenal the same year.

Troy Deeney valuation claim made

Given the transfer interest Deeney received from some top clubs during his time at Watford, we asked our Hornets fan pundit, Justin Beattie, about what the striker's valuation would have been during his prime years as a player at Vicarage Road.

Speaking to Football League World, Justin said: “In terms of what he was worth to Watford, he was priceless.

"He gave us some of the best years at Vicarage Road than a single individual player has, and he’s still very much highly thought of by the supporters.

“The fact we paid £500k for him, we got more than enough for him.

“I couldn’t put a valuation on him, but I would say, in his prime today you’re looking at a striker who was scoring 20+ goals a season for a while, they’re quite rare, particularly in the Championship, so plucking a figure out the air I’d say around £25m to £30m.”

Troy Deeney will go down as a Watford legend

After 140 goals in 419 appearances for Watford, it's easy to see why Deeney is so well thought of at Vicarage Road.

Nobody could have expected a £500k signing from Walsall to make such a big impact, and it wasn't a surprise to see so many big clubs interested in him after he scored 47 times for the Hornets in the top-flight of English football.

Given the way he performed in both the Championship and the Premier League, the £30million verdict given by Justin certainly isn't an unfair one, and that's what Leicester City were reportedly prepared to pay to bring him to the King Power Stadium in 2016.

Despite plenty of links to moves away from Vicarage Road, Deeney remained loyal to the club, and helped them win promotion back to the top-flight at the first attempt after relegation in 2020.

From memorable moments like the play-off semi-final against Leicester City to captaining Watford to the FA Cup final in 2019, Deeney will always be fondly remembered by the Vicarage Road faithful and will go down as a club legend.