Southampton are in the running to land a deal for Watford veteran Troy Deeney before the EFL transfer window closes this week.

According to written version of The Sunday Mirror (via tbrfootball.com), The Saints are rivalling two other Premier League sides who are also looking to bring the Englishman back to the top flight. No asking price has been named for Deeney but as it stands, he has less than 12 months left on his current contract and he is not getting much game time for the Hornets.

An ideal back-up for Ings

Transfermarkt currently value the striker at £5.8million so an offer in that region could be enough to get a deal done. However, as the 32-year-old looks to be surplus to Vladimir Ivic's side, Watford may accept a much smaller fee.

With Ralph Hasenhuttl already strengthening his attack with the addition of Theo Walcott on loan from Everton, bringing in Deeney would be a smart move to further bolster Southampton's ranks. The Austrian could play two men up top and have both experienced strikers posing a threat, but the likelihood is that the Watford skipper would still play second fiddle to Danny Ings.

The former Liverpool man has a gruesome backlog of injuries, suffering ACL damage during his time at Anfield. Saints fans will be keeping a close eye on Ings' fitness in case his previous problems come back to haunt him and having another option to manage Ings' game time could be a wise move. At 32, Deeney might be looking for the club he wants to retire with and Southampton could be a good destination for him.

Hasenhuttl will want to improve on his 11th place finish last season and he might even be eying up a top six place in the near future. Deeney's seniority and desire to win a trophy could be a driving force in a Southampton side that is seemingly on the rise.

In other news, Agent says Brandon Williams would be “absolutely mental” not to join Southampton...