Ollie Watkins responded to Troy Deeney on Instagram after the former Birmingham City striker claimed the Aston Villa star was “a winger trying to be a striker”.
It came after Watkins scored his 19th Premier League goal of the season (26th in all competitions) to help Unai Emery’s side cement their fourth-place finish with a 2-0 win against Arsenal in the Emirates.
The 28-year-old has been in top form this season, climbing the scoring charts to become Villa’s top scorer and equaling Christian Benteke’s record to become the club’s joint top scorer in the Premier League.
There has been much debate over which of Watkins, Dominic Solanke or Ivan Toney should be chosen for this summer’s European Championships. And Deeney claimed Gareth Southgate should give the Brentford striker the nod over the Villa striker.
“With Ollie, this is going to sound negative, but I promise you it’s not, he’s a winger trying to be a striker,” he told talkSPORT last week.
Ollie Watkins criticized Troy Deeney on Instagram after he scored against Arsenal on Sunday.
The former Birmingham star claimed Watkins was “a winger trying to be a striker”.
Watkins posted this image on his Instagram and wrote: “Not bad for a winger trying to be a striker.”
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‘That’s him. He is very good as a striker, but when Iván stepped forward and took that penalty [versus Belgium] Did you think it was going to fail? I did not do it.
“Every time Ollie plays one-on-one for a lot of games this season, I’m still not convinced he’s going to score.
“I think he’ll eventually score if you give him three or four shots a game. Ivan just has that borderline arrogance that makes me say, ‘Okay, put Ivan in there.’
But it seems Watkins had not quickly forgotten Deeney’s comments and after sensationally lobbing the ball over David Raya to score a sublime goal against Arsenal, he bit back at the former Birmingham City striker.
He posted a photo of himself shushing the crowd on his Instagram Story after scoring his goal with the Instagram caption: “Not bad for a winger trying to be a striker.”
One fan reposted the image on Twitter and wrote: “Ollie woke up and chose violence.”
While Deeney was particularly scathing of Watkins’ performances this season, the Villa striker’s teammate Emiliano Martínez praised the Euro hopeful after the match, stating that he should be up for a Player of the Season nomination.
One fan took to X (formerly Twitter) to write: “Ollie woke up today and chose violence.”
Watkins lofted the ball over David Raya for a stunning goal during their 2-0 win.
“He should be,” he said when asked if Watkins is in the running for the Golden Boot, with the Villa striker in second place, just one goal behind Erling Haaland.
“I think Ollie should win the player of the season award,” Martinez added.
“When you play for a ‘big six’ team you get more credit, but Ollie has scored 19 goals with the opportunities he’s had.”