Watford supporters may not be surprised £12.5m signing is now a free agent – View
Isaac Success did not live up to his name at Watford, with four seasons at Vicarage Road turning out to be a monumental let-down for all parties concerned.
Success joined the Hornets in the summer of 2016 from Granada after showing promise in La Liga. A fee reported to be £12.5 million was paid for the Nigerian as he became Watford’s record signing at the time.
Arriving as a potential solution to Watford’s goalscoring troubles in the Premier League, the forward was unable to provide the goods.
The previous season, the Hornets were the fifth-lowest goalscorers in the Premier League with 40 goals. Surely a 20-year-old striker with the potential to succeed in the top flight could put that problem behind them. Unfortunately not.
Given his struggles, Watford supporters may not be surprised that Success finds himself without a club at present.
Watford supporters may not be surprised £12.5m signing is now a free agent
A disappointing first season for the Hornets proved, unfortunately, to be a sign of things to come.
The Nigerian found the net once in his debut campaign, scoring in a 2-2 draw off the bench against Bournemouth.
From then on out, injuries became a problem. A disastrous start led to him being loaned out back to La Liga with Malaga but he never found the back of the net for the Spanish outfit.
Three seasons later, having even struggled in a Championship promotion-winning campaign, Success’ Hornets career ended with a bleak return – six goals in 72 appearances.
The eventual inevitability came for any flop at Watford as he was sold to sister club Udinese.
After besting his Watford tally by one in his three seasons with the Italians, Success now finds himself without a club. That is unlikely to come as much of a surprise to supporters of his former club.
Hornets were naive to drop an eight-figure fee on Success
Watford have had a fair few flop signings over the years but the nativity shown when they splashed the cash on Success is hard to ignore.
Yes, Success did perform well in La Liga with Granada, but does six goals in 30 appearances warrant an eight-figure fee? The Hornets found out the question to that the hard way.
In the player’s eyes, it was the physicality of the English game that had held him back.
In an interview with TLN following his move to Udinese, he made it clear the Italian game was more suited to his playing style.
He said: “I think when I played in Spain it was a bit more technical and England was a little bit more intense physically. And I think before I left Spain to England, I have those two things in me already, the physical part and the technical part as well.
“So it was a bit easy for me to work with a couple of managers that I met there. But here in Italy, now I’m enjoying it because it’s all-round football, physically, aggressively, tactically as well, and I’m adapting to it because it’s something I think I have. And playing in a league like this is bringing up a lot of potential in me.”
A potential we are still yet to see.
Now, at 28, you’d expect Success to be hitting his prime, but that would be fairly difficult without a club.
Moussa Sissoko may have returned to Vicarage Road for 2024/25 but a reunion with this free agent is not on the cards.
