Troy Deeney says what Ollie Watkins should be doing on deadline day after Arsenal’s bid

Add as preferred source on Google

Ollie Watkins has had a whirlwind of a week.

Watkins scored against Chelsea in the Champions League in midweek, while Arsenal bid for Watkins on the very same day.

Meanwhile, Watkins also had to say goodbye to his strike partner, Jhon Duran, this week,  while he’s gained a new teammate in the shape of Marcus Rashford.

Speaking on the Premier League All Access Podcast, Troy Deeney has been discussing Watkins’ situation at Aston Villa, and he says that the striker should be making a call on deadline day about getting a new contract after Villa signed Rashford on loan on a mammoth package.

• READ MORE: The one man at Aston Villa who convinced them to sign Man United’s Marcus Rashford on loan

What Ollie Watkins should be doing on deadline day

Deeney shared his advice for Watkins after Arsenal’s bid and Rashford’s arrival.

Rashford joined Villa over the weekend on a huge pay-packet, and Deeney believes Watkins should now be looking for a payrise too.

“If I was Ollie Watkins and his representatives I would be on the phone this morning saying ‘hold on, I’m your number one striker and you’ve brought in two players on £250k and above.’ Let’s say Ollie is on £70k, that big disparity needs to be changed,” Deeney said.

“I would be making sure that at this moment when I know Arsenal want me and I know the club needs me, they need to make things right.”

Aston Villa’s highest earners

Deeney says that Watkins should be pushing for a payrise, and he’s not wrong.

Indeed, according to Capology, Watkins is on a very healthy pay-packet already, but given how much Marcus Rashford is earning, the England star could easily be pushing for more.

£130k-a-week is a lot of money, make no mistake about it, but if Villa value Watkins as their star attacker and don’t want to sell him to Arsenal for £60m, he could bump that wage a tad higher.

Arsenal still want Watkins late in the day, but that deal does look very unlikely at this point, and if Watkins does end up staying at Villa Park, he should be looking to be paid a similar sort of wage to Rashford.

Rashford’s arrival at Villa certainly changes the wage structure at the club, and that could cause a problem or two.