Writer: Michael Drury
With only 15 days left until the transfer window slams shut, you could forgive Watford fans for looking at a few players being quoted at £20 million mark and asking why not us?
With the £50 Million sale of Richarlison to Everton, you would be hard pushed to find any Watford fans turning their nose up at that deal but there seem to be a few areas that still need addressing after Watford’s initial splurge on players.
So far, our signings have been shrewd and calculated by the board.
Ben Foster – a proven goalkeeper at Premier League level.
Adam Masina – a towering left back to hopefully replace the ever underwhelming Jose Holebas.
Ben Wilmot – I would assume not for the first team right away but a bright young Englishman at a problem position for Watford.
Ken Sema – a powerful left winger to add options in that position.
Marc Navarro – a right back to put some pressure on Daryl Janmaat for his first-team place.
All those signings were of minimal value to the club in this crazy transfer window where a young Brazilian who has had a good 3 months in the league can be sold for ridiculous money. Gerard Deulofeu was the only addition to the squad with a value exceeding £5 million. Watford fans are hoping can finally deliver on his full potential after an injury-ridden loan spell last season.
With only a few players leaving the club, including the somewhat re-vitalised Nordin Amrabat after his World Cup performances, I am personally over the moon with this sale as he was more than useless in the final third whilst wearing a Watford shirt. A few more outgoings would be greeted with great relief by myself such as Younes Kaboul, Miguel Britos (how he got a contract extension I do not know) and Stephen Okaka. With a couple of new signings coming in as well it could see us well set for the upcoming season.
The biggest difficulty we face is in keeping Abdoulaye Doucoure in the centre of midfield. He proved invaluable to us last season. It is obvious that in the middle of the park we have a solid core of decent players to guide us through the next campaign. Especially with Nathaniel Chalobah coming back from injury to bolster the already impressive talent we have in that position.
I am not going to even try predicting who will be coming in the door next at Vicarage Road over the next 2 weeks. The scouting system seems to know what they want and I would not have guessed any of the new additions so far in this window. What I do hope to see is a few positions strengthened using the Richarlison money. Mainly I would be looking at adding a new striker, a replacement for Richarlison on the wing and a new centre-back to be paired with Christian Kabasele at the heart of the defence.
Who knows what is going to happen in the upcoming season?
A few years ago we were a club fighting it out at the bottom of the Championship – we’re now signing players from the likes of Juventus and Barcelona. How times change!
