‘All I want is a fair crack of the whip’ – Striker speaks out about future amid WBA speculation
Watford’s 32-year-old striker Troy Deeney has insisted that he can still play in the Premier League after being linked with a move to West Brom.
According to the Daily Mail, the Baggies have been offered the chance to sign the Vicarage Road captain while The Telegraph has reported that the ex-Walsall striker could move to The Hawthorns on loan.
While West Brom are in desperate need of a new centre-forward ahead of the upcoming Premier League season, some fans are sceptical about the links to Deeney due to his age and the club’s attempts to make Slaven Bilic’s squad more youthful.
However, Deeney is adamant that he can still play a role in the top-flight, comparing himself to former Manchester United and Tottenham perennial Teddy Sheringham.
“I’m only 32 and in this day and age that’s nothing. We’re well past the days where you are over the hill at 30,” Deeney told The Sun.
“But there is a stigma about it and when you look at England, the bulk of the squad is very young, vibrant and energetic.
“Yet look at someone like Glenn Murray, who’s just joined us. He’s still doing it at 36, nearly 37 and he’s had a proper good, long career at all levels.
“There’s room for everybody. All I want is a fair crack of the whip.
“I look at Glenn and at the likes of Ryan Giggs and Teddy Sheringham. I’m the sort who wants to play as long as I can and as long as I enjoy it.
“I’m different to someone like Jamie Vardy, who is a lot quicker than me but if he loses a yard he loses a large part of his game — whereas I never had the yard in the first place.
“Sheringham didn’t either and played into his 40s. It was all in the mind, knowing where to be at the right time without needing the pace.”
West Brom are going to find it hard to sign a striker in their 20s who is proven in the Premier League due to the restricted transfer budget that Bilic is working with.
Of course, Albion can try and scoop up talent from abroad and roll the dice on them being able to hit the ground running in the Premier League.
However, Kevin Phillips told West Brom News back in May that he “would prefer to see West Brom go for a proven Premier League striker”.
Deeney has plenty of top-flight experience in England with him earning 163 Premier League appearances in his time at Watford, scoring 47 goals.
While we understand why fans would want someone younger, the club cannot take risks with a striker so a move for someone like him seems far more likely than one for a young, unknown striker in Europe.
In other West Brom news, Albion have agreed a fee to re-sign this player on a permanent basis.
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