Samuel Kalu’s agent has confirmed an imminent move to Premier League strugglers Watford, speaking to AllNigeriaSoccer as the winger closes in on a move away from Ligue 1 crisis-club Bordeaux.
Losing ten of their last 13 league games and just three points off the bottom of the table, anyone putting pen to paper with Watford this month is taking an almighty leap of faith.
Can Claudio Ranieri guide the division’s most out-of-form club away from the perils of the drop zone and into the vertigo-inducing heights of mid-table? At the moment, that feels distinctly unlikely.
But, at least compared to Bordeaux, Vicarage Road must look like Valhalla.
The 2009 Ligue 1 champions are staring down the barrel – not only of relegation but also financial ruin.
They are understood to have debts in the region of £132 million. Last weekend’s 6-0 thrashing at Rennes felt like something of a rock-bottom moment.
Surely it can’t get any worse. Unfortunately, it most certainly can.
According to The Guardian, some of the club’s highest-earners, including Kalu and former captain Laurent Koscielny, have been frozen out of the first-team picture as embattled president Gerard Lopez looks to force them out the door.
Lopez has succeeded, it seems, as far as Kalu is concerned.
When will Samuel Kalu sign for Watford?
The Athletic claim that Watford have agreed a deal worth up to £3.5 million for the 24-year-old winger. Kalu will undergo a medical with the Hornets on Wednesday.
“The reports are correct,” confirms William D’Avila, Kalu’s representative. “He has agreed a four-and-a-half-year deal (at Watford).”
Kalu, who scored four goals in 20 league games last season, will become Ranieri’s fourth January signing.
Brazilian centre-back Samir joined from Udinese. And he will be replaced at the Serie A club by Arsenal misfit Pablo Mari.
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