The 27-year-old spent a year at Standard Liège’s academy before becoming part of Club Brugge’s youth system in 2013. He impressed for the latter and that helped him make his way into their first team a year later.

His displays for the Jupiler Pro League side convinced Watford to invest in his services in 2015.

Oularé finished his debut season with the Hornets with only three appearances as he was overlooked by their then manager, Quique Sánchez Flores.

Watford sent him out on loan to Zulte Waregem, Willem II, Royal Antwerp and Standard Liège for three years, before they sold him to the latter in 2019. The attacker has struggled with fitness and HLN points out that he has missed 701 days due to injuries.

When asked if he would have wanted to change anything from the past, he said: “I would tell my younger self to be patient. In the beginning of my career, things may have happened too quickly. It was also just difficult to stay calm. I played for the reserves of De Rode Duivels.

“I broke through at Club Brugge, the best team in Belgium. The press wrote pages full of all the clubs that were supposedly interested in me. It was about money, a lot of money. Then it’s not easy to make the right choice at that moment, at that age.”

According to HLN, the Belgian made only 13 starts for the first team before Watford paid €8m for his signature.

On his move to Watford, Oularé explained: “I should have been more patient. Stay one or two more years. But I’m not going to say that I regret my choice either. What if I had been given opportunities at Watford and had broken through in England?

“But in retrospect I would approach it differently. I would think more about the transfers I would make. About my entourage and people I surround myself with. I was young. I trusted people quickly, sometimes too quickly. Unfortunately, football is not a world in which you are allowed to do that.”

Oularé returned to Belgium when he joined second division side Lierse Kempenzonen in the last window.

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The 24-year-old made only three appearances for the Hornets in all competitions in his debut campaign and was then sent on loan the following three seasons.

His association with the Premier League side ended last summer when he joined Standard Liège.

Oularé’s progress has been hindered due to multiple injuries he picked up over the years and DH in Belgium interviewed some of his friends to get to know their point of view on the player’s career.

Luca Michel and Oularé began their friendship at FC Brussels and the former admitted the Belgian moved to England too early in his career. Oularé was 19 when he arrived at Vicarage Road.

“I already said to him: ‘You hit between 10 and 15 goals and you go back to England to win.’ He was too young when he left for the UK in 2015,” Michel explained.

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Amoros Ndabanez, another friend, wants the frontman to return to the Premier League to send a message to Watford.

“I would like him to go back to the Premier League to prove that they (Watford) were wrong not to trust him,” Ndabanez said.

Oularé has two goals in 15 appearances in all competitions for Standard Liège and he needs to step up his game, if he’s to fulfil his friend’s wish.

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This was confirmed by both the Hornets and Standard Liège on their official websites, but no further details were mentioned in the statements, including the length of the contract and the transfer fee. He signed a four-year deal with Standard.

There had been suggestions the 24-year-old would only officially become a Standard player after he’d completed 900 minutes of action, given he was returning from injury.

It was also stated Standard will pay Watford the transfer fee once the attacker achieves this target. So far, he has spent less than 400 minutes on the pitch.

Het Belang van Limburg had an opportunity to have a chat with the player and asked him about the clause allegedly agreed between Standard and Watford.

Responding to that, Oularé said, “I belong to Standard. I signed for four years. That clause is something between the two clubs, I don’t think about it.

“No matter what happens, I am a Standard player. I don’t even know how many minutes I have to play before that clause is activated.”

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The striker was then forced to undergo a surgery and while still being on the sidelines, Standard Liège signed him on a season-long loan deal last summer, where he reunited with his former manager Michel Preud’homme.

As a part of the deal, the Jupiler Pro League outfit have an option to make the 23-year-old’s transfer permanent after the end of this campaign.

The Belgian regained full fitness and returned to the pitch in November before suffering another long-term injury (Tibia fracture) in December, which has forced him to miss the remainder of the matches so far.

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Oulare has made only four appearances for Standard Liège this season and if the report from Voetbalnieuws.be is to be believed, ‘Obbi Oulare will return to Watford’.

With two more years left on his contract at Vicarage Road, it is unlikely that Oulare will be included in Javi Gracia’s plans next season, meaning something will once again need to be sorted during the next transfer window.

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The striker has been sent out on loan on several occasions and has continued to struggle during those periods. Last summer, he reunited with his former manager Michel Preud’homme at Standard Liège, who took him on a loan deal with an option to buy.

He was recovering from injury when he joined the Jupiler Pro League side and since regaining full fitness in November, the 23-year-old went on to make four appearances for them, before suffering another serious injury in December.

Oulare is currently out on the sidelines and is unlikely to feature again this term.

Voetbal Belgie now claims there are doubts if Standard Liège will exercise the option to make his temporary deal permanent in the summer.

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The attacker’s contract with Javi Gracia’s side will expire in 2021, but Oulare ‘cannot count’ on having another chance to showcase his worth at Vicarage Road.

With Watford apparently making it clear that Oulare has no future at the club, and if Standard decide against investing in his signing, then the player will be forced to look for a new club.

Maybe it’ll be another loan.

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The striker missed the first few months of this campaign and returned to action in November. In December he admitted that it was “hard” being sidelined for most of 2018.

Since regaining full fitness, the Belgian made four appearances, before a tibia fracture in the last group stage fixture of the Europa League against Akhisarspor forced him to spend more time away from the pitch.

The Hornets player was the guest on Het Laatste Nieuws’s show VISTA, where he explained how difficult it has been after suffering another injury.

“It was first and foremost a very painful affair. I thought I could have the ball, but the goalkeeper of Akhisarspor caught me and I immediately knew it was serious,” Oulare said.

“I had never broken my leg before and I heard that ‘crack’… Mentally it was also a difficult thing, the first two weeks I just had to take a flat rest and you get tired of it. I have done a lot of strength training and in the meantime, I am walking again.”

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Oulare has stressed that his return from injury will be longer than what was initially expected.

“When will I be back exactly? That depends on the coming weeks. I hope to get to the start of the play-offs, but I also realise that it will be difficult,” the frontman explained.

“Whether I will be physically ready? Together with our physios I will do everything possible. My rehabilitation takes a little longer than initially expected – we have chosen not to operate. And I think we have done well.”

Standard Liege have the option to make his loan deal permanent, but that could be questionable given the injury… so Oulare may return to Watford this summer.

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After recovering from the injury, he made his first appearance of the season against KAS Eupen and opened his account by scoring an equaliser in his side’s 1-1 draw against Sint-Truiden over the weekend.

That clash was his first start since February and the striker opened up about his struggle when he spent several months on the sidelines.

“The feeling is there again. A big relief after all those months. I’ve had a hard time mentally. I was just doing well at Antwerp and then I had to undergo surgery. Then you’re there with another three-year contract at Watford,” Oulare said, as quoted by Belgian newspaper Het Belang van Limburg.

His contract with the Hornets runs down in 2021 and after picking up an injury, the attacker was worried about his future as he knew it would be difficult for him to make his way into Javi Gracia’s plans, if he had stayed with the English club, and not playing made a move elsewhere more difficult.

At Standard Liege, he reunited with his former manager Michel Preud’homme and Oulare has thanked his coach for trusting him and bringing him to the club. 

“I was fortunate that Preud’homme came to Standard. He knows me, trusts me and has given me the chance to get back to the level,” he explained.

Should Oulare continue his recent progress then it’s likely he’ll get a permanent exit in the summer.

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Last season, he was sent out on a temporary spell to Antwerp and the striker suffered an injury earlier in March, for which he went under the knife.

On his return to Vicarage Road, Javi Gracia sanctioned another loan move, this time to Standard Liège. Since joining the Jupiler Pro League club, the Belgian has failed to make a single appearance so far due to the injury.

After 216 days, he returned to the pitch, representing Standard Reserves and took just a few minutes to get his name on the scoresheet against Mouscron Reserves on Tuesday.

The Watford player expressed his delight on getting minutes under his belt and also provided an update on his fitness.

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“I played again after seven months. I am very happy with my first minutes and for me to immediately score, makes it even better,” Oulare was quoted as saying by Belgian newspaper Het Belang van Limburg.

“I have worked well with the physical trainer and have been training with the group for about four to five months. Completely pain free, I don’t even have to skip any training.” 

Asked about his return to the first team, the 22-year-old said: “I have no idea when that will be exactly. I still hope it’s before the winter break. We will not rush anything, but this tastes like more. You may have noticed that I was hungry. I wanted to show that I had the desire to play again.”

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The striker has struggled to impress during these temporary spells and injuries haven’t helped him as the Hornets player has struggled with thigh problems since the start of last season.

The 22-year-old underwent surgery in April and there were even reports suggesting that he will be prone to suffer more setbacks, but he’s revealed the medical experts have said otherwise.

“Look, the surgery went well. I don’t feel any pain. The specialists and the doctors are convinced that I will have less injuries,” Het Laatste Nieuws quoted the Watford player as saying.

“I can do everything. Sprint, jump, run, stairs… I feel better than ever before. I can do everything. Sprint, jump, run, stairs… I feel better than ever before.”

Asked when he will be back in action, he said, “Hopefully this happens as soon as possible. But I have to be patient. My goal is simple. I want to play in 2018, but I don’t have a fixed date in mind.”

Oulare joined Standard Liege on a loan deal and the Belgian club has an option to sign him on a permanent deal. He played under Michel Preud’homme when the two were at Club Brugge and a move to the Jupiler Pro League has seen him reunite with his former coach.

The attacker explained his delight when the Standard manager called him to ask if he would be willing to join his side on loan from Watford, despite the contrasting reports in the media.

“I was glad when he [Preud’homme] called. I read in the media that he was not really interested, but I believed that because I was injured. He wanted to know if I was ready mentally and physically,” the Belgian explained.

Watford will be keeping a close eye on Oulare’s situation, if only to hope for a future transfer fee.

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A few days ago, DH claimed Standard Liege are interested in signing the player and he was spotted in the Jupiler Pro League club’s office on August 17th.

According to Het Laatste Nieuws on Thursday, Les Rouges have managed to beat Antwerp in their efforts in securing the 22-year-old’s signature, expected to be a loan deal with a view to buy.

All three parties involved in the deal reached an agreement for the transfer to be completed after negotiations continued this week.

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Oulare has played under Michel Preud’homme, when the two were at Club Brugge. The attacker has agreed to reunite with his former coach after the latter urged the Watford player to join him at Standard Liege.

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