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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However, with both clubs not achieving great results in the past few years, people start wondering how good this partnership actually is.

As manager Andrea Sottil is about to be sacked by Udinese, TuttoMercatoWeb today feature a story wondering whether the recent coaches were really the club’s biggest problems.

The website points out that the Serie A side continue to sign too many players from Watford, with prices that could be considered ‘too high’.

TuttoMercatoWeb makes a full recap of those transfers, recalling the many millions that have gone to the Vicarage Road side.

It’s said that those signings ‘don’t improve’ Udinese’s squad, although they’re quite careful to avoid a claim there’s anything underhand going on.

Just this summer, the Italian side made the signings of Christian Kabasele, Maduka Okoye and Domingos Quina from Watford, besides having the return of Hassane Kamara, who’d been loaned to the English side last season.

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The Italian initially joined the Hornets as their scout in 2012 and was then promoted to technical director in 2014.

TuttoMercatoWeb have published a detailed interview with Giraldi, where he revealed that Watford failed to sign Kim Min-jae in the past.

The South Korea international arrived in Europe for the first time when Fenerbahçe signed him from Chinese side Beijing Guoan in 2021.

Giraldi has revealed he was offered a chance to sign the 26-year-old defender for Watford when he was at South Korean side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. He explained this when TMW asked him about the signings he failed to undertake.

“The player we were really close to and with whom we had daily contact both with the boy and with the agents was Kim min-jae,” he said.

“We were really close to him when he was still playing in Korea: he was reported to me through the scouts and I fell in love, an incredible resilience and a high-level personality. We actually got to the signing steps, but at that moment Jeonbuk decided not to disregard an agreement they had already made with Beijing Guoan: the boy was respectful and went to China. Even when he was there, we resumed contact, but at that moment we couldn’t carry out the operation there.”

Min-jae joined Napoli in 2022 and established himself as one of the best centre-backs in Serie A last season. This saw him linked to Manchester United but he ended up moving to Bayern Munich in the last window.

Giraldi has also told TMW that Fikayo Tomori was a step away from joining Watford after his loan spell at Derby County during the 2018/19 season. Tomori, who’s currently at AC Milan, was then owned by Chelsea.

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Aftonbladet writes that due to a muscle injury, the 30-year-old has been pulled out of the squad, being replaced by Gabriel Gudmundson.

Sema’s place in the national team had already been a doubt for Sweden manager Janne Andersson, as when releasing the squad, the coach said he didn’t know whether the Watford player could make it.

The player had started in the first six games the Hornets played this season, but ended up sidelined with a muscle injury and missed their last six matches.

Since Sweden had called him up at first, it seems there was hope he’d recover in time, so that could at least be a good sign for Watford fans that the process is in its final stages.

Sema has 17 caps for the national team, and had been a starter in their two games in the last international break, having played against Estonia and Austria. He’s missing the matches against Moldavia and Belgium, although the first is a friendly.

The post Watford player pulled out of national team – Not recovered from injury as expected appeared first on Sport Witness.

The centre-back has been speaking to TV12, relayed by Udinese.it, regarding his move to Italy after seven years at Vicarage Road.

Kabasele became the latest in a long line of transfers between Watford and Udinese over the last decade, with the two clubs owned by the Pozzo family.

He joined the Italians in a €6.5m deal, bringing an end to an extended spell at Watford that saw him make 166 appearances for the club since his arrival from Genk in July 2016.

He’d been a regular for them over that time, featuring in both the Premier League and Championship as the Hornets have regularly moved between the two divisions.

It means any decision to depart was not an easy one, with him very much a part of Watford’s furniture, but he says the decision was made after a conversation with the club on the matter.

“After seven years at Watford I felt that the right time had come to change,” he said.

“I spoke to the club, and they thought it would be a good team for me. (I want to) bring my experience to the team. There are many good young people, if I can help them I will do so with pleasure.”

The post “I spoke to the club” – Player explains why ‘after 7 years at Watford’ he wanted summer move appeared first on Sport Witness.

According to Peruvian outlet Depor, the midfielder is on his way to Sporting Cristal.

It’s said there are just a few details left for Aguillar to fly to South America and start training with his new club.

Depor claims that the negotiations with the former Watford player have been taking place for a few weeks now, and they hope to have him for the 2024 season.

The story highlights how the youngster had shown ‘big potential’ in the Hornets’ youth ranks, so there’s quite an expectation around his signing at the Peruvian side.

Despite being born in Stevenage, Aguillar has Peruvian and Spanish nationality.

Back at the start of the summer, when it was known he’d leave Watford, reports from the South American media claimed that he had offers from England, France and Germany. It seems those options didn’t work out for him, though.

Despite appearances in the FA Youth Cup, the midfielder never had the chance to make his debut for the Hornets’ first team.

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The Hornets spent €11.5m to sign the player from Fluminense in January 2020, and had him in the squad during their ups and downs in the Premier League and Championship.

João Pedro was this week interviewed by Globo Esporte, and ended up making many mentions of his time at Watford.

It started with the striker claiming he hasn’t had many chances to play for the national team because of the Hornets’ recent situation, even though he hopes to get new opportunities now.

“I was off the radar of the national team and the media for a long time because Watford were in the second division,” João Pedro told Globo Esporte.

“And coming back to the Premier League, Brighton starting well, me knowing Diniz, knowing how he likes to work, how he likes his players to play, makes it a bit easier. But I have to do my bit in England, because Brazil has some excellent players. But, yes, I’ve been thinking about it, it’s one of my objectives in the senior team. To continue with the work so that, God willing, I’ll be rewarded later on.”

João Pedro doesn’t regret his recent years, though, as he insists his time at Vicarage Road was actually very good for him.

“I don’t see it as a waste of time, but as an apprenticeship at Watford. There are very few players of my age here who have played this many minutes. I’ve now played over 100 games in England. I think that’s important. And I’ve been able to come back to the Premier League more experienced, knowing how the game works here. I’m having a good start to the season. Now we need to keep going and focus on our goals.”

The Brazilian also feel grateful towards Watford for support from the club at the time he lost his stepfather. He claims the Hornets were great at taking care of him and his mother at that time.

“It was a complicated period. A very big loss. My mum hadn’t had a partner for a long time, Carlão had been with us since I was 15. I’d come home from training and see my mum and grandma sad. And I had to stand my ground. I’ve always been mature since I was little and I’m still maturing and learning. Carlão always said he wanted to watch me play against Manchester. He ended up passing away and didn’t see it. And I scored my first Premier League goal against Manchester.”

“I’m not one for crying or showing emotion, but that day I couldn’t control it. A lot came over me. I collapsed on the pitch and my team-mates came to hug me. The players gave me a lot of support during that period, Watford and the hospital too. It showed the affection that not only the club had for me, but also the people who lived around me.”

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Andrea Pellegatti has been speaking to Sport Italia regarding his various clients and their move in the transfer window this summer.

Sarr was one of those who moved clubs, electing to depart Watford and make a return to France with Marseille.

He had been with the Hornets since a €30m move from Rennes in 2019 but never truly kicked on with them despite a tally of 34 goals and 24 assists in 131 games.

He had regularly been linked with a move to club’s in the Premier League but that never happened, with no sides electing to take the gamble on him.

Marseille did this summer, paying €13m to sign the winger and bring him back to France, a move that has worked out well so far for both parties.

The player is certainly happy with the move, at least according to his agent, who says he deserved to be playing at a lever higher than the one Watford could offer him.

“An important operation. The boy deserved a higher level than that of the English Championship,” he said.

“Watford failed to climb back to the Premier League last year and had one year left on his contract. At Marseille both the managers and the technical staff showed great interest in him.

“Playing with the 4-4-2 you needed a winger on the right. When a club of this calibre calls you, you don’t think twice. Quite a quick operation.

“For him [going to Italy] there was the problem linked to the fact that he didn’t have a community passport, but a Senegalese one. It wasn’t easy for the Italians. There were some surveys from Serie A and the Premier League, but nothing concrete.”

The post “You don’t think twice” – Player jumped at chance to leave Watford, agent says he ‘deserved higher level’ appeared first on Sport Witness.

The information comes from journalist Sacha Tavolieri, who, on Twitter, says the 34-year-old ‘couldn’t motivate himself’ to continue with his career.

Cathcart had left Watford this summer and signed a one-year deal with KV Kortrijk, with an option to extend it for a further season.

It turns out that the defender didn’t even make his debut for the Belgian side and now seems to be giving up on playing for them.

The player made 29 appearances for Watford last season, with repeat spells out of the match day squad for the Hornets.

Cathcart started his career with Manchester United’s academy, and back in 2007 he already had an experience in Belgium, as he had a short loan at Royal Antwerp. He was also sent to Plymouth during his time at Old Trafford.

The defender had no chance to play for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, though. In 2010, he was sold to Blackpool, and in 2014, he moved to Watford, where he stayed for nine years and made 262 appearances.

The post Player leaves Watford in summer, finds new club this month – And now retires appeared first on Sport Witness.

The striker was speaking to Sky Sports Austria following his side’s 3-1 win over Sweden in qualifying for the European Championships next year.

He bagged a double in the game after Michael Gregoritsch’s opener in the 53^rd minute had put the away side in front.

Only a 90^th minute striker from Emil Holm stopped it being a better evening for Austria and goalkeeper Bachmann, who could have done with a clean sheet.

The Watford goalkeeper found himself under the spotlight in this game after his mistake in the recent 1-1 draw with Moldova that saw him slip up, literally, and allow the opposition to take the lead.

It’s a mistake which has received the usual widespread coverage, although the Watford man has insisted he won’t be losing any sleep on the matter and isn’t concerned about it.

That, of course, didn’t stop the fans from reminding him at any opportunity in the clash with Sweden, something Arnautovic was not impressed by.

“I heard a bit in the first half how the ball was played back to Daniel and that there were people in the stadium who hyped it up a bit,” he said.

“I don’t think that’s good, it’s not acceptable. You should build a player after a mistake like that. We play at home, that’s our crowd, and if our crowd isn’t behind us, who should be behind us?”

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