Watford have been linked with a move for Bournemouth’s forward Benik Afobe. The former Arsenal man moved to Bournemouth from Wolverhampton £10 million deal in January 2016. It is now being reported that Watford are interested in signing the former Arsenal player but they will face stiff competition from Championship’s runaway leaders Wolves who also want to bring him back.
Afobe has been falling out of favour at the Hornets this season. Of the 17 appearances he has made, 12 of them have come from the bench. He has fallen behind the likes of Callum Wilson, Josh King and Jermain Defoe in the pecking order and will now look to a new club to turn around his mean fortune.
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.
With the board assuring him that funds will be made available for new players, the Spaniard will look to invest the money in reshuffling his team and he seems to have made up his mind about his first possible signing. Should Afobe move to Watford, he will find an exciting player in Richarlison to link up with and get good first team action given the lack of form of the misfiring strikers at the club now.
