John Barnes has backed Watford to succeed under new head coach Vladimir Ivic ahead of their upcoming Championship campaign.
The Hornets are in the process of rebuilding their squad under the Serbian coach, with Abdoulaye Doucoure set to depart for Everton and a move planned for Swansea City captain Matt Grimes.
While Ivic is a relatively unknown entity in England, Barnes believes Watford's left-field choices have served them well in the past and expects similar results from their latest appointment.
"Watford have always gone with left field options and it's seemed to have worked for them, so although I think it may be a risk for other clubs, this is clearly something that works Watford," he said. "If fact, it’s not a gamble at all. I actually think they’ve got a great chance to be one of the favourites to come back up.
"They have a formula of signing players from different clubs, particularly from European clubs that people may not have heard of, which really works for them. We obviously don’t know what's going to happen between now and the start of the season, in terms of who stays and who goes but I don't have any worries for Watford; in fact, I think they’ll ride this one out."
One player whose future remains uncertain is captain Troy Deeney, who is the subject of interest from West Bromwich Albion.
While Barnes believes Deeney can be an inspirational figure in the dressing room, the Watford legend believes the current skipper should only stay if he wants to.
"It's important, as long as Troy Deeney wants to stay and continue to play and be as focused as he was," said Barnes. "You obviously want to keep your best players, your inspirational players, and for Watford, that’s very much Deeney. I’d even go as far as saying that he’s been Mr. Watford.
"Having said that, even if Deeney doesn't stay, Watford will still be a very strong team and will still have a great chance of promotion. But for the fans and from a harmony point of view, it's always important for Watford to have a player like Troy Deeney."
After assessing Deeney's options, Barnes believes his best option may be to stick around at Vicarage Road, but backs him to succeed wherever he goes.
"The problem for Troy is that he’s reached a certain age and unless you’re Messi or Ronaldo, you’ll struggle to attract any of the top 6-8 top Premier League clubs," he said.
"Taking that into consideration, and also the fact that at Watford, Troy can play the way he actually plays, I believe his best option is to stay put.
"There’s always a possibility that a Premier League club could sign him, but I don't necessarily think there are going to be that many clubs interested at this point. But at the end of the day. Troy has to decide what he thinks is the right thing for his future. It’s worth adding that Troy is a natural leader and a really good character to have around and on that front, it'd be good for any club to have Troy Deeney."
Quotes courtesy of BonusCodeBets.
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