Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann has opened the door to a potential January move to Arsenal or Rangers after falling out of favour at Claudio Ranieri’s Premier League strugglers, speaking to Kicker.
Bachmann must have been left with a bitter-sweet taste in his mouth as Ben Foster marked his 500th top-flight appearance with a man of the match performance during Watford’s 1-0 defeat at the Emirates on Sunday.
Keeping out a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang penalty on top of a number of other eye-catching saves, the 38-year-old shot-stopper proved there’s plenty of life left in this old dog.
Bachmann, then, appears to have a mountain to climb to force his way back into the first-team picture.
The Austria international was dropped after Watford’s 2-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers in September and is far from happy with his role on the sidelines.
“My situation is temporary, it has little to do with sport,” says the former Stoke City ace, claiming his omission from the starting XI is down to “non-sporting reasons”.
“It’s a frustrating situation. As a player, it’s always difficult when you’re not playing. If it’s for non-sporting reasons, it makes it even harder. It’s twice as frustrating.”
Could Watford keeper Daniel Bachmann join Arsenal or Rangers in January?
In July, The Sun reported Arsenal had shown an interest in the £15 million-rated Bachmann, who played a key role as Watford secured a return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
The Gunners will be in the market for a goalkeeper again next year with Bernd Leno’s future up in the air.
And while Bachmann would struggle to overtake the ever-improving Aaron Ramsdale in Mikel Arteta’s pecking order, the prospect of European football would open the door to far more opportunities at the Emirates than the Austrian is getting at Vicarage Road.
Rangers, Europa League regulars these days, also came calling for Bachmann in 2019 and are scouring the market for a man to succeed veteran stopper Allan McGregor.
Bachmann, furthermore, has a track record in Scottish football following an impressive loan spell at Kilmarnock.
“The transfer window will be open again in January. If no solution has been found by then, you have to see I can go back to work. You will see that in the next six to eight weeks,” Bachmann adds.
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