Watford set to spend less than €20m on signing – Could be a great bargain as deal to sensational star was reached
Elan Ricardo’s transfer from Equidad to Watford is now agreed, according to the latest reports from Colombia.
Journalist Mauricio Gonzalez Arteaga writes on Twitter that the clubs found a deal for a fee of €800k.
It’s reported that Equidad accepted to sell 100% of Ricardo’s rights to Watford. That is, they won’t even get a percentage of a future move.
It’s been a while since the Colombian media started claiming that the Hornets opened negotiations to sign the youngster, who only has 22 appearances for his club’s first team.
With Watford spending less than €1m on the deal, that definitely sounds like they could be finding a big bargain. Following Arteaga’s report, most replies on his Tweet are from Colombian football fans who’ve been claiming that Equidad are giving the player away as a gift… which can only be a good sign.
Signing South American youngsters became a lot easier since the work permit rules were changed, and this is a good example. Ricardo doesn’t have any call-ups for the national team, and will maybe start proving his big potential once he starts playing in the Championship.
The use of words like ‘creative’ and references to utilising the loan market haven’t stopped the rumour mill cranking into life within days of the end of the season.
London Travelwatch has shared a warning today (May 8) over ‘device clashes’ which have led to passengers being overcharged.
It comes after a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request from a member of public revealed that TfL is likely refunding more than £200,000 a year to passengers over the issue.
The 42-year-old added: “In fairness, TfL refunded me very quickly within a week. But it did make me wonder how many other passengers are being overcharged without knowing, particularly people visiting the city for a day or weekend who probably pass it off as expensive travel.”
Even when two devices are linked to the same bank account, they have separate identity numbers for security reasons so TfL’s systems will think they are separate incomplete trips and therefore charge both the maximum fee.
The 3-1 defeat to Middlesbrough condemned the Hornets to their worst league finish in over a decade, and indeed their worst position in the league standings since the Pozzo takeover in 2012.
With the above in mind, there is clearly plenty to do this summer, with new head coach Tom Cleverley having plenty to work on in the coming weeks and months if the club are to be more competitive next season.
Naturally, some of that work will be in the transfer market, choosing the right players to bring in, and indeed deciding which players to let go.
With that said, here is one in and one out that could represent a strong start to the window for the Hornets.
