Ollie Watkins has hit back at Troy Deeney on Instagram, after the ex-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 tighten their grip on fourth place with a 2-0 win against Arsenal at the Emirates.
The 28-year-old has been in red hot form this season, rising up the scoring charts to become Villa’s top scorer, and equal Christian Benteke’s record to become the club’s joint-top leading goalscorer in the Premier League.
Much debate has been circling over who out of Watkins, Dominic Solanke or Ivan Toney should be picked for this summer’s European Championships. And Deeney claimed Gareth Southgate should give the nod to the Brentford striker over the Villa forward.
‘With Ollie, this is going to sound negative but I promise you it is not, he is a winger trying to be a striker,’ he said to talkSPORT last week.
‘That’s just who he is. He is very good at being a striker, but when Ivan stepped up and took that penalty [versus Belgium] did you think he was going to miss? I didn’t.
‘Whenever Ollie runs through one-vs-one during many games this season, I’m still not convinced he is going to score.
‘I think he will score eventually if you give him three or four shots a game. Ivan just has that borderline arrogance about him that makes me go: ‘Right, stick Ivan in there.”
But it appears Watkins hadn’t quickly forgotten Deeney’s comments and after sensationally dinking the ball over David Raya to score a sublime goal against Arsenal, bit back at the ex-Birmingham City forward.
He posted a picture of himself shushing the crowd on his Instagram story after scoring his goal with the caption Instagram: ‘Not bad for a winger trying to be a striker.’
One fan reposted the picture on Twitter, writing: ‘Ollie woke up and chose violence.’
While Deeney was particularly scathing of Watkins’ performances this season, the Villa forward’s team-mate, Emiliano Martinez lumped praise on the Euros hopeful after the match, claiming he should be up for a Player of the Season nomination.
‘He should be,’ he said when asked if Watkins is in the race for the Golden Boot award – with the Villa forward sitting second place, only one goal behind Erling Haaland.
‘I think Ollie should win player of the season,’ added Martinez.
‘When you play for a ‘big six’ side, you get more credit but Ollie has scored 19 goals with the chances he’s got.’
