Troy Deeney
Watford’s Troy Deeney has named his top five Premier League strikers.
Troy Deeney said “I’m here to talk about my number nines. My top five number nines. Not widemen, not left centre forwards, number nines straight through the middle. For me, Roberto Firmino the new number nine, works hard, doesn’t get as many goals as he probably should considering the team he plays for, but he links the play really well. Raul Jimenez is a very good player. His work-rate across the front is remarkable. He doesn’t give the defenders a moment’s peace. He can link play, he can score left foot, right foot and he’s got ability to grow and be a much better, all-round player. He’s only going to get better. Jamie Vardy is a thorn in everyone’s side. You can see that against Man City and Arsenal. More importantly, whenever he’s not in the Leicester team, they look a completely different team. When he’s in the team, he has a different dimension, a killer instinct, and naturally he always does his best to get in behind and score goals. He’s a very good finisher. Sergio Aguero is the ultimate poacher. He’s that guy that’s always in the right place. Right foot, left foot, tap-ins, worldies, he can do the lot. He’s a big reason for the success Man City have had in recent years. He’ll be there for the next couple of years to move forward, before [Gabriel] Jesus takes over. Harry Kane is the best number nine that’s about in the Premier League at the moment – you could argue in world football, although [Robert] Lewandowski and [Karim] Benzema would probably give him a run for his money. But an out-and-out number nine, he’s the best in the Premier League. He scores a lot of goals, headers, left foot, right foot. He’s adding assists to his game now as we’re seeing with [Heung-min] Son. He’s only going to get better and he’s a great captain for his country.”
Deeney has left out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah but he said it is because he is picking out-and-out number nines and sees the Arsenal and Liverpool stars as more as wide forwards.
