Here’s a surprising statistic… in the last season before the Pozzos arrived in South West Herts, Watford sent players out on loan 31 times. Granted, most of them were academy products and some of them went out as many as three times each in that season but still, 31 loans is a lot for a middling Championship team. Despite this huge number of loans, it was the following season where it really kicked off, with allegations of loophole exploiting and the Udinese B tag from jealous rivals. At the start of the Pozzo ownership, we were far more likely to be the recipients of the loans but Premier League riches means that we are now the ones sending players far and wide.
This blog isn’t going to cover the ones we all know about, such as the one time first team squad members or the academy players. It’s not even going to focus on the jewel in the Pozzo loan crown, the precocious Colombian Cucho Hernandez as enough has been written about him elsewhere. It’s going to try to shed a light on the other loanees, the ones from around the world that Watford have silently accumulated… and there are lots of them, if you know where to look (Spain, unless otherwise stated). Some of these players are listed on the Premier League squad list as under 21 players contracted to Watford, others had to be found through a bit of canny Googling in other languages.
First up, we have Darwin Machis (forward, Venezuela, 25) who scored 14 goals in 33 games for Granada in the Spanish equivalent of the Championship last season. He was the last Pozzo player left there and his goals included this cracker. Oh and this one… and also this one. Although contracted to Watford, he’s been linked with a move to Udinese this summer.
Also in the same division were Pervis Estupiñán (left back, Ecuador, 21 years old) and Sulayman Marreh (centre midfield, Gambia, 22) who have both been at Almeria, having previously been on Granada’s books. Estupiñán had a difficult start to the season, being in and out of the team before forcing his way into the starting line up and becoming a fans’ favourite and has been linked to a move to Celta Vigo and Sporting Lisbon. Marreh also had a tough first half season, being frozen out at Valladolid before moving to Almeria in the January window but played regularly thereafter.
Watford sent six young South Americans to Real Valladolid B in the Spanish version of League 1. The most successful was the confusingly named Luis Suarez (striker, Colombia, 20), who rattled in 11 goals in 34 games. Sometimes joining him upfront was Juan Becerra (striker, Colombia, 20) who managed 3 goals in his 18 performances. Becerra had been signed directly from the Udinese School of Soccer in Baranquilla, Colombia (come on, who knew that existed?), as had Jaime Alvarado (midfielder, Colombia, 18) and Eduardo Montenegro (midfielder, Colombia, 19) – both of whom were in and out of the team. Jorge Segura (centre back, Colombia, 21) spent most of the season at Valladolid, before returning on loan to Colombia where he’s now a regular starter with Independiente Medellin, who are second in the top flight. The final loanee at Valladolid was Williams Velasquez (centre back, Venezuela, 21), a team mate of the better known Watford loanee Adalberto Peñaranda in the Venezuelan team that lost the u20 World Cup Final to England last summer.
Matheus Aias (forward, Brazil, 21) started the season on loan at Fuenlabrada but moved to Valencia’s B team in January on a loan with an option to buy. His compatriot Matheus Santana (winger, 20) didn’t fare so well and only managed 70 minutes playing time in an injury hit season for UCAM Murcia. The loanee with the most eventful season was probably Kingsley Fobi (right back, Ghana, 19) who was on loan at Formentera. He missed the start of the season as the club had forgotten to register him as a player but then made the right back spot his own until he tore his cruciate ligament. In very un-Watford fashion, he returned after only four and a half months and finished the season strongly.
Outside Spain, Dimitri Foulquier (right back, France, 25) suffered badly from injuries on loan at Strasbourg in Ligue 1 but played more regularly in the second half of the season, getting a warm send off from their fans. Strahinja Karisic (forward, Serbia, 20) pitched up on loan in Fluminense round about the time that Watford signed Richarlison. He played with their u20 team for the first half of the season before moving on loan to Serbian Super League strugglers, Rad Beograd.
There are others, whose status is less clear. There are suggestions that Watford also own Martin Hongla (Cameroon, centre back, 20) who’s on loan at Barcelona B with an option to buy, Gerardo Navarette (Chile, midfielder, 23) on loan at Hercules; Gabriel Corozo (Ecuador, right back, 23) on loan at Elche and Denilson (Brazil, left wing, 22) who played last season on loan in Brazil’s top division with Vitoria. That’s 18 young players allegedly signed by Watford and loaned out, without so much as a peep from the club. The likelihood is that there are even more players who are nominally signed to Watford but will never set foot in Hertfordshire, let alone Vicarage Road.
This is the crux of the Pozzo scouting model. It runs on quantity, rather than quality – signing large numbers of young players from less well-scouted regions at a young age, and bringing them over to Europe in the hope of finding the next Alexis Sanchez that pays for the whole system for another few years and then some. You can’t knock it as a business model, the Pozzos have long been finding a way to punch above their financial weight in different European leagues. But… most of these players are coming from countries that are significantly poorer and are being brought across to Europe at a very young age. Most of them aren’t going to make it in top flight European football, some won’t make it in football at all. As much as the Pozzo model can be lauded for its ingenuity, I hope that there is some sort of support for those that find themselves heading back home without the big money, and having spent a decent chunk of their young lives on another continent, away from family and friends chasing their dreams.
EDIT: There’s another one, of course there is. Hidden amongst the Sky Sports list of Watford’s retained/released players is Valber Huerta, a 24 year old Chilean centre back currently on loan at Huachipato in the Chilean top flight.
Vic Bait 