£6m man snubbed Palace and Southampton, could now be relegated twice

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Maduka Okoye had enough to worry about in the build up to Sparta’s Rotterdam derby trip to Feyenoord last weekend. 

In Bryan Linssen, the hosts had one of the Eredivisie’s top scorers in pursuit of yet another goal. They had Alireza Jahanbakhsh, a player Brighton once paid around £20 million for, threatening to rediscover the form that once earned him the league’s Golden Boot. 

Then there was Luis Sinisttera, the twinkle-toed winger back in Arne Slot’s starting XI for the first time since a recent knee injury.

The last thing Okoye needed, then, was for Feyenoord’s De Kuip pitch to make life even more difficult for an already overworked goalkeeper. 

As Jahanbakhsh raced through one-on-one, Okoye lost his footing at the worst possible moment, leaving the Iran international with what pretty much amounted to as a tap-in.

2-0 after just 11 minutes.

By the time the full-time whistle rang around a raucous De Kuip, it was 4-0. A result that leaves sorry Sparta second from bottom, six points adrift of safety. 

Okoye, then, could be about to suffer the ignominy of seeing both his parent club and his loan club relegated in the very same season. 

Has Maduka Okoye made a mistake?

The Nigeria international joined Watford for £6 million late last year, before returning to Rotterdam on loan for the rest of the season.  

“My management had been in close contact with several Premier League clubs since the beginning of the year,” 22-year-old Okoye confirms.

“(Including) Southampton and Crystal Palace. 

“Watford, with (owner) Gino Pozzo, simply convinced me. I will fight for (my place) and give everything to be the number one. I believe in the quality of the team and I pray and hope they stay in (the Premier League).”

Unless Roy Hodgson rolls back the years and emulates the remarkable impact he made at Fulham in 2007/08 – guiding a seemingly doomed side clear of the relegation zone – then Okoye’s prayers will go un-answered. 

Will Watford be relegated?

Watford’s 1-0 defeat to West Ham United on Tuesday night leaves the Hornets one point and one place off the bottom. What’s more, it’s now 15 defeats in their last 19 games.  

Now, Crystal Palace and Southampton are not a million miles away from the drop zone. But both clubs have enough of a buffer between themselves and the drop zone to ensure that Ralph Hasenhuttl and Patrick Vieira can sleep relatively easily between now and May. 

Okoye joined Watford hoping to be a Premier League goalkeeper in 2022/23. It looks increasingly likely that those best laid plans are about to go somewhat awry.