Hornets skipper Troy Deeney has revealed he was on the verge of joining Coventry City in the summer of 2011. Watford fans and the striker himself will undoubtedly be thankful the move didn’t go through.

Every transfer window it seems as though Deeney is linked with a move away from Vicarage Road.

Swansea City, Leicester City and Arsenal have all been named as potential suitors over the years but Watford have always stood firm. Under the Pozzo family, there was no chance he’d leave.

But it appears the 27-year-old came very close to departing before his Hornets career had even got going.

It seems an age ago that Deeney was considered by some supporters, and by those at the club, to be expendable.

His first season with the Hornets following a move from Walsall in 2010 had seen him play out on the right wing and, as a result, he’d scored just three goals all season.

So with Coventry expecting striker Lukas Jutkiewicz to join Middlesbrough late in the transfer window they sounded out Watford regarding a move for Deeney.

“That wasn’t a link that was true,” the striker explained. "It was after my first year here when I’d been playing on the right…”

So how close did he come to leaving the club that he would eventually go on to achieve so much?

“Let’s put it this way, if Lukas Jutkiewicz had moved an hour earlier then I wouldn’t be sitting here speaking to you guys now,” he replied.

"But it all turned out alright for both of us in the end.”