According to All Nigeria Soccer, Watford have started talks to try and bring in Chelsea striker Ike Ugbo at the end of the season.
The Hornets have won promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, and are now looking to make signings for their return to the top flight.
A new striker is wanted at Vicarage Road to support the likes of Troy Deeney, Joao Pedro, Andre Gray and Stipe Perica, with Ugbo now wanted.
It’s claimed that Watford have started negotiations to get Ugbo on board, with Fulham, Monaco, Genk and CSKA Moscow also keen on the Chelsea talent.
Ugbo, 22, has come up through the Chelsea ranks but has never played for the club, and had pretty disappointing loan spells in England with Barnsley, MK Dons and Scunthorpe United.
Last season, Ugbo smashed 13 goals in 29 games on loan at Roda JC, and he has been even better this term with 16 goals in 33 outings at Cercle Brugge in Belgium.
Ugbo is starting to fulfil his potential, but with Tammy Abraham barely able to get a kick at Chelsea, it seems unlikely that Ugbo will get any closer to first-team action.
What’s interesting though is that Cercle allegedly have a purchase option in Ugbo’s loan, and if they activate that, they can offload him for a profit elsewhere.
Watford’s talks may have to be with Cercle rather than Chelsea, and given that Monaco own Cercle, they would surely become immediate favourites.
It’s a complicated situation with Ugbo, but just days after achieving promotion, Watford are setting the wheels in motion as they look to sign him.
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