John Eustace speaks out on Troy Deeney's Birmingham City future | OneFootball

Birmingham City boss John Eustace has been discussing what the future could hold for Troy Deeney at Birmingham City, admitting that a coaching role is a possibility.

The Blues skipper is at the back end of his career and is out of contract this summer.

A new deal is reported to have been tabled to the 34-year-old, although nothing has yet been signed.

What has John Eustace said?

Speaking to the media about Deeney's future, Blues boss Eustace confirmed that the club have held discussions with the club skipper over a new deal.

“We’ve sat down very briefly with Troy and spoken about next season,” Eustace explained, via BirminghamLive.

“Nothing has really been finalised or anything like that. I think Troy is a fantastic professional.

"He is a Birmingham City fan, he loves the club, he wants to see it progress and grow."

On whether or not Deeney could take up a coaching role at the club next season, Eustace added: “Possibly that could be a role for him next year, but it’s not something we’ve really spoken about.

"The most important thing for me is that he gets back fit and ready to finish the season off well.

“He’s the club captain and a very important member of the group.”

What has Deeney said on the matter?

Just last week Deeney himself addressed his future and said that a new contract offer had been tabled to him.

He was, though, rather coy on the matter.

The Blues skipper told Kammy and Ben's Proper Football Podcast, via BirminghamLive: “There's an offer there,”

"I'm just figuring out how that looks.”

Deeney continued: "At this point it's not about the money, it's about like is there a coaching role. They want me to do coaching. Just feeding into it.

“But the project has to be right. It wasn't everything that was sold at the start. Now I understand the dynamics of it, I've got to make a conscious decision to invest more time. It's more time than money.

“Or do you go 'thanks but no thanks' and move on to pastures new and try and figure out other things."

Deeney ended by explaining football is still his biggest driver despite plenty of other things going on: “I still love football. Football is my driver,"

"But I'm not stupid. It's two-year slots, three-year slots, this is the time where you might have to figure that out.

"If we can come to some amicable arrangement then I'm sure I will be there next year, pushing just as hard.”

The Verdict

It sounds as though there is a real desire from John Eustace to keep Troy Deeney at Birmingham City next season.

Although it is clear that Deeney will only commit to that if he feels it is right, and not just for the sake of it.

That is probably the right attitude to have, and one that I'm sure has come with his experience.