Walsall hoping to finally cash in on Troy Deeney

Deeney, 29, is being linked with a £20million transfer from Watford to Newcastle, which could provide the Saddlers with a financial boost in the region of £4m.

They currently rent the Banks’s Stadium from Suffolk Life – a pension fund of which Saddlers owner Jeff Bonser is a beneficiary – for hundreds of thousands per year, but the ground is thought to be available to buy for around £5m.

Walsall, who sold Deeney to Watford in August 2010 for £500,000, are due 20 per cent of any profit made on the striker’s future transfer.

He scored 27 goals in his three-and-a-half years at the club before switching to Vicarage Road, where he has become club captain and a hero with the fans thanks to his 108 goals in 317 appearances, leading them to the Premier League in the process.

When questioned about the potential sale of Deeney yesterday, Watford head coach Marco Silva said: “No offers in the club about Troy Deeney. At this moment Troy Deeney is able to play finally, able to play or be in the squad if I take that decision.”

Last August, Walsall Council was urged to look at buying the Banks’s Sstadium and received encouragement from the club. At the time, a spokesman from Walsall FC said: “Walsall Football Club would welcome discussions with Walsall Council over the sale of the freehold of the Banks’s Stadium. As a community-focused club we believe, if the freehold is to be sold, it would be beneficial to keep ownership within the borough and in-turn safeguard the long-term future of the club.”

Owner Bonser has come under fire from fans this week, with the Walsall Supporters Trust putting its weight behind a planned protest at the home game against Oxford United on January 13.