Troy Deeney claimed he had an offer to join Arsenal after being relegated with Watford - but he refused to say sorry for a disrespectful remark made years prior.

The former Premier League star spent over 10 seasons at the Hornets, with his most memorable moment coming from a last-minute winner to send them to the Championship play-off final after ex-Gunners goalkeeper Manuel Almunia saved a controversial penalty from Leicester's Anthony Knockaert seconds before.

Fast forward seven years when Watford were relegated in 2020 at the hands of Arsenal after a 3-2 loss, Deeney says he was then a target of interest for both them and Tottenham. The now 36-year-old made an appearance on the Filthy Fellas podcast where he discussed his could've-been move to the Emirates Stadium.

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Deeney said: "You know I was close to signing [for Arsenal]. The year I got relegated. We lost at Arsenal, 3-2, me and Welbz (Danny Welbeck) scored, we could have probably beaten you, it was that COVID year, behind closed doors.

"We got relegated on that day, this is at Arsenal, and everyone was like, 'Ahhh cajones!' and whatever, 'Shut your mouth man'."

Deeney was referring to the 2017/18 season when Watford beat Arsenal 2-1 at Vicarage Road and he accused the Gunners of lacking "cojones" post-match - something that sparked a feud between the striker and Arsenal fans.

He continued: "Then, back in training, I’m just on the bike because my knee isn’t right. Someone from Arsenal calls, like, 'Yo, would you go Arsenal? But what you have to do, you have to apologise for that comment'. I said I wasn’t going to apologise for that."

It was also reported that Spurs were interested in signing Deeney during the same summer, with then-manager Jose Mourinho placing him as a back-up striker for Harry Kane. He continued: “I was driving to the south of France, it was still COVID times, you couldn’t really fly and all that.

"And my agent phones: 'Watford want to get rid of you'. I’m literally like, 'Me!?'. Bear in mind I’m driving in shorts because I can’t put trousers on, my knee’s massive (from an injury he was playing through). My knee is swelling and you want to talk about getting rid of me now?

"Bearing in mind the last four months I haven’t been getting paid! Because I said to them to keep it, make sure the staff get paid. So now I was taking everything personally. Anyway, I settled down for a week, come back and they’re like, 'Will you speak to [Jose] Mourinho at Spurs?'.

"If you remember, the season finished in July and then we were straight back in, it was a quick turnaround. Will I speak to Mourinho? Of course I will, it’s Jose, what do you mean? Like, who’s not going to speak to Mourinho."

Deeney was happy to play back-up to Kane, claiming he’d be the England forward's “biggest cheerleader”. However, he added: “I’m nowhere near as good as Harry, nowhere near, will never say that. But there are certain things I do that he can’t do.

"But I thought I could do that [back-up] role, and they were in the Europa League or something like that so I was happy to play every Thursday, no problem. We had the chat, he said 'if I can’t get [Vinicus] over the line you’re next.' Sweet."

Of course, Spurs signed Carlos Vinicius on loan and Deeney remained at Watford for another year, helping the Hornets back to the top flight before heading to Birmingham City. He spent two years at St Andrew’s before joining Forest Green Rovers, where he was sacked as player-manager in January 2024.