Watford are interested in signing Sunderland’s 23-year-old midfielder Didier Ndong. The Hornets are interested in taking the Gabon international on a loan deal initially with the option to make the switch permanent should he play well at Watford. Sunderland, on the other hand, are ready to listen to offers for Ndong but would prefer to sell him instead of a loan spell. An initial offer for a loan deal was rebuffed by Sunderland earlier this month with Chris Coleman’s men holding out for £8 million.
The athletic midfielder cost the Black Cats a club record £13 million. He joined Sunderland back in 2016 from French side Lorient. Sunderland suffered a horrendous season and were relegated. This has now seen their fortune falter and they are looking to offload players to create a budget for new faces. The deal for Ndong could become interesting as West Ham United are also reportedly interested in signing the player and hence his asking price could drive up.
As for the Hornets, it has been only a few days since Watford decided to part ways with manager Marco Silva. The Hornets have moved swiftly and has appointed Javi Gracia as his successor. Gracia’s first assignment as Watford manager was this Saturday against Southampton in the FA Cup, which he ended up losing 1-0.
Watford’s decision to sack Marco Silva came as little surprise given his commitment issues at the club which resulted in their poor form of late. Reports had come out about Silva’s head being turned ever since rumours spread linking him with the managerial job at Everton surfaced.
The trigger-happy owners at Watford were never going to on agreeable terms with Silva’s floating concentration and made little flinches in appointing their tenth manager in under six years by bringing Gracia on board.
Silva’s departure leaves the club with a lot to prove especially since the Portuguese had done a decent job in his short spell at the Hornets. He assembled a decent squad which has the potential to stay up in the league but given the fact that the Hornets has just won one match in the league since the end of November, Gracia will have a job on his hands to recharge the sinking team.
The Spaniard will look to invest in reshuffling his team and he seems to have made up his mind about his first possible signing by launching a bid for Ndong.
