Watford have agreed to terminate Danny Welbeck’s contract amid talk of interest from Southampton and Crystal Palace.
Watford announced that Welbeck had left Vicarage Road two years before his contract was due to expire on their official website earlier on Tuesday.
It means the 29-year-old, who had failed to feature in any of the Hornets’ Championship fixtures this season, is free to sign for any club for whom the transfer window remains open, such as Southampton or Crystal Palace.
Despite the deadline for global and Premier League deals having passed on Monday, both Saints and Palace can still recruit from EFL clubs until 16 October.
Welbeck is already said to have attracted interest from the pair, according to The Daily Mail – although Southampton added his former England colleague, Theo Walcott, to their attacking options on Monday.
That could make Crystal Palace, whose manager Roy Hodgson knows Welbeck from his time in charge of England, the more likely of the two to take a plunge on the 29-year-old.
But much could depend on the Eagles’ ability to offload the out-of-favour duo, Christian Benteke and Connor Wickham.
Welbeck began his career at Manchester United before moving on to Arsenal, from whom he joined Watford last year.
But the 42-cap international, who boasts 16 goals for England, has only scored three Premier League goals since the start of 2018/19.
It was reported last month there was a ‘very real chance’ that Southampton would trigger the £5 million release clause in Welbeck’s Watford deal (The Sun).
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