Watford are preparing a £8m bid for Sunderland midfielder, Didier Ndong who has not featured much for the Black Cats in recent times. Marco Silva is currently scouting for players to strengthen the team for the second half of the season.
Ndong is a defensive midfielder and a Gabon international with 18 caps for the nation. He arrived at the Stadium Of Light in the summer of 2016 from Ligue 1 side, Lorient.
Ndong’s strengths lie in controlling the midfield when on the ball and winning back possession whenever required. Still young, Ndong has displayed great bouts of maturity and composure.
However, the 23-year-old’s name has not been called up for selection for 8 out of the last 10 EFL Championship games and might just have fallen out of favour with Chris Coleman.
Sunderland are facing yet another relegation battle this season after their exit from the Premier League and needs to restructure the team in order to ensure their survival. The atmosphere at the Stadium Of Light has turned toxic with the club rotting at the bottom of the league table.
Coleman’s appointment have seen the side find some sort of rhythm but not much has changed. With nobody taking over the scoring responsibilities the former Wales coach is actively seeking out attacking talents.
Ndong’s transfer fee will fetch him the bargaining chip he is looking for while at the same time bolstering the Watford squad. The Hornets started off the season in remarkable form and was contesting hard against the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham and Burnley for a European spot.
However, they have struggled to keep up that momentum as the season progressed and have dropped to the 10th spot of the points table.
Plagued with multiple injuries and none of his strikers able to find the back of the net regularly, the Portugues needs the services of Ndong. They got completely outclassed by the league leaders last night and came back home with a 3-1 loss.
Even though Abdoulaye Doucouré has stepped up for the side with 6 goals this season, the injury to Will Hughes is costing the team dearly.
Ndong can add strength to the squad’s defensive structure from the middle of the park. In the dying minutes of hardly contested games, a player like Ndong can always make a difference for any team in the Premier League.
However, will Sunderland settle for the reduced fee when they paid £13.6m for Ndong?
