Football Season Guide

The Championship
England
The Championship
2022/2023
Watford
Clean filter

Watford

In


Vakoun Bayo (att) Charleroi; Rey Manaj (att) Barcelona; Ben Hamer (gk) Swansea City; Maduka Okoye (gk) Sparta Rotterdam - end of loan; Ignacio Pussetto (att) Udinese - end of loan; Ashley Fletcher (att) New York Red Bulls - end of loan; Yaser Asprilla (mid) Envigado - end of loan; Jorge Segura (def) CD America - end of loan; Philip Zinckernagel (mid) Nottingham Forest - end of loan; Andre Gray (att) QPR - end of loan; Domingos Quina (mid) Barnsley - end of loan; Tom Dele-Bashiru (mid) Reading - end of loan; Pontus Dahlberg (gk) Gillingham - end of loan; Mattie Pollock (def) Cheltenham Town - end of loan;

Out


Cucho Hernandez (att) (sp) Columbus Crew; Moussa Sissoko (mid) (k) Nantes; Philip Zinckernagel (mid) Olympiacos; Joshua King (att) (r) Fenerbahce; Andre Gray (att) Aris Saloniki; Adam Masina (def) (sp) Udinese; Jorge Segura (def) Independiente Medellin - loan; Nicholas N'Koulou (def) (sp) Released; Ben Foster (gk) (r) Released; Rob Elliot (gk) Released; Juraj Kucka (mid) (r) Parma - end of loan; Peter Etebo (mid) Stoke City - end of loan;

Watford endured another miserable Premier League campaign that ended in relegation last season, suffering an immediate return to the Championship after recording just 23 points and going through three different managers. Forest Green Rovers boss Rob Edwards has been appointed to oversee a long-term project at Vicarage Road - a change in direction to the usual short-term view. Edwards has struggled with poor results in pre-season whilst attempting to complete a huge squad overhaul. Key players Emmanuel Dennis and Ismaila Sarr remain at the club despite continued links away, and should they stay, it would make Watford a force to be reckoned with at this level. Vakoun Bayo and Rej Manaj are intriguing options to join the pair in attack, but a new-look Watford side will do without the services of Moussa Sissoko, Juraj Kucka and Ben Foster - three of the very few bright sparks of last season. Edwards could well struggle to maintain stability at the club that has been stripped apart and has started over once again, with so many new squad members being put together to try and achieve promotion. Watford have an array of options and an incredible squad depth, but it is one that could easily become unsettled over the course of the year.

Target


Reaching the playoffs is an absolute minimum for this strong Watford side, with promotion expected. They have an array of talent at their disposal, but it remains difficult to gauge how they could perform given the huge changes taking place.