Watford captain Troy Deeney, who signed a new five-year contract last week, believes leaving the Hornets this summer would have meant taking the easy option.

The 27-year-old is a hugely influential figure at Vicarage Road both on and off the pitch. He is the dressing room leader and scored 21 goals last season to help the Golden Boys win promotion to the Premier League.

His form has led to interest from top flight sides over the past two summers. His latest suitors were reportedly Newcastle United, Swansea City and Everton.

Watford had no interest in selling their prized asset and despite Deeney only signing a four-year contract last August, moved to safeguard their top scorer’s future once more. And it was announced last Friday that the striker had inked a new deal which runs until 2020.

Deeney made a scoring return to action on Wednesday as he netted in the Hornets’ 4-0 friendly win at St Albans City.

Speaking after the game Deeney discussed why he choose to remain at Watford instead of attempting to move elsewhere.

“It feels a bit like I am saying the same thing every year,” the former Walsall striker joked. "Yes, we had offers come in again but I have no reason to leave.

“I have worked very hard with Watford to get into the Premier League and we are finally here now. So why would I not continue that journey?

“It would have been too easy to jump ship and then say, if Watford got relegated: ‘Well look, they got promoted with me in the team but I left and then they went down. That's not my fault.’ In that sense I was in a no win situation.

“So I want to go into the Premier League with Watford and show everyone what Troy Deeney is about.”

The two-time Watford Observer Player of the Season now stands equal seventh with Maurice Cook on the Hornets’ all-time scorers list in all competitions and needs five more goals to overtake John Barnes.

Deeney has struck 20 goals or more in the last three seasons, becoming the only player in the club’s history to do so in three consecutive campaigns.

Hitting the 20-goal mark has become a minimum target for Deeney in recent seasons but he isn’t focused on his tally for the forthcoming campaign.

“It is not about me and I said the same thing at the start of last season.

“This season is about staying up and that is all that is important.

“We’re only eight days in and it would be naive to talk about targets. We don’t even know what our squad is yet.

“However, we know our main target is the same as 12 of the 20 clubs in the Premier League; survival.”