Fellow journalists offer ideas for Watford loan signings

Tom Cleverley has already made it quite clear that in order to build a squad for the 2024/25 campaign, he’s going to be looking at who he can borrow every bit as much, and possibly more, than who he can buy.

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Cleverley himself is a great advert for what a season at Vicarage Road can do for a young player at the start of his career.

A 20-year-old, with a bit of a mohawk and no facial hair, Cleverley lit up the Hornets 2009/10 season and won the Player of the Season award while on loan at Vicarage Road.

In more recent seasons, loans have been largely disappointing.

Jamal Lewis made 36 appearances in the season just gone but really didn’t pull up any trees, and as the season wore on his inability to cross the ball became an increasing source of frustration.

He never seemed overly comfortable being a left back in a four-man defence, but he seemed equally uneasy as a wing-back.

Matheus Martins started the season so brightly that it made it even more alarming when his form dropped off so dramatically as it did.

He suffered a family bereavement midway through the campaign which may well have contributed to that, but certainly the swashbuckling, threatening, goalscoring Martins we saw away at Coventry and against West Brom at Vicarage Road was sorely missed in the second half of the campaign.

Matheus Martins: excellent form early on, but faded through the season (Image: PA)

Then we come to the enigma that is Emmanuel Dennis.

He clearly has tremendous skill, an eye for goal and that special something which, at Championship level, could make all the difference.

The trouble is, we didn’t see it nearly as often as we wanted and needed to. In his defence, the striker wasn’t fit when he arrived in January – and that’s a question for those who recruited him, knowing he’d not played in more than two months.

And to his credit, Dennis did give us some memorable moments during his brief stay: the winning goal at Birmingham was predatory and clinical, the goal at home to Leeds both dazzling and deadly.

But he was inconsistent and often anonymous. A Premier League team might be able to carry Dennis on an off-day, but at Watford he needs to be on it every week.

Putting aside the monetary considerations, I’d not be advocating a second return for Dennis, and I think those who are may be blinded by what we saw in the 21/22 season.

When you look at the likes of Omari Hutchinson at Ipswich, you see how a loan player recruited to fit in with the needs of a coach and his style can make a difference.

Omari Hutchinson at Ipswich was a great example of a successful loan (Image: PA)

I was actually surprised Hutchinson only started 20 games (he came on as sub 24 times), but he chipped in with 10 goals and, perhaps tellingly, played every minute of the Tractor Boys’ final nine league games as they secured promotion.

He was one of many examples of how clubs that finished higher than the Hornets this season used the loan system with success.

Watford are overdue an explosive loan. Hamza Choudhury did ok last season, but the likes of Kortney Hause and Henrique Araujo meant it was a net loss on the loan market.

Go back a little further and the name Glenn Murray sends shivers down the spine (and not with excitement). Recent loans have seldom raised the roof.

So, I spoke to a few fellow journalists around the country to get some insightful suggestions of players whose clubs might be looking to get them playing experience on loan next season, and who would be a valuable addition to Cleverley’s squad.

When it came to a ‘No.9’ a name that came up more than once was Liam Delap at Manchester City.

He looked a right handful when we played away at Hull and equally dangerous in the home fixture – eight goals in 26 games was a better return than the spells he spent with Preston and Stoke previously, and he proved a shrewd loan signing from City’s Under-21s by the harshly-treated Liam Rosenior.

Of course, with his strong Manchester United links, you have to hope Cleverley still has friends there who would trust him with one of their young gems.

Given the need for a bit of pace on the flanks, a name that a north-western correspondent offered was United’s Facundo Pellistri.

Facundo Pellistri has been linked with Watford before. (Image: PA)

He was a player Slaven Bilic considered, and the 22-year-old Uruguayan has spent the second half of this season in La Liga with Granada.

However, the only note of caution I was given was whether Pellestri himself would see a season at Vicarage Road in the Championship as a step backwards.

Another name suggested by a couple of fellow writers who follow United was that of French defender Willy Kambwala.

The 19-year-old made eight Premier League appearances this season, but the feeling is that the Old Trafford club will want him to go and get a season of football under his belt during the 24/25 campaign.

Nearer to home, and a couple of names sent to me from North London.

Tottenham’s 22-year-old Irish international striker Troy Parrott has already had spells on loan at Ipswich, Millwall, MK Dons and Preston, but a journalist contact told me he has really ‘come of age’ this season while on loan at Excelsior in the Dutch Eredivisie.

Parrott has scored 10 goals in 28 games including a couple in a 4-0 win over Heracles the weekend before last, although should Watford be interested they’d want to check that the recent hamstring injury that ruled him out for a month has no long-lasting effects.

Just across North London at Arsenal, a name that came highly recommended was attacking midfielder Ethan Nwaneri.

He became the youngest-ever Premier League player when he made his debut as a 16-year-old in 2022, and he made a second senior appearance in a 6-0 win at West Ham in February.

His 12 goals in 24 games for England Under-17s shows he knows where the net is, and with Cleverley looking to utilise that ‘No.10’ role behind a striker next season, Nwaneri would be a great fit.

Ethan Nwaneri is an Arsenal youngster who may be loaned out next season. (Image: PA)

Of course, the Gunners would need convincing but they’d not need to unsettle the youngsters much as the training ground is next door – and wasn’t there talk of Watford and Arsenal having some sort of special relationship not so long ago…

One name out of left-field came from both a Midlands-based journalist and one who covers the London area: Fulham striker Jay Stansfield.

The 21-year-old has just scored 13 times in 47 appearances on loan for a Birmingham side that was relegated, and spent the previous season on loan at Exeter where netted nine times in 39 games.

He was a prolific scorer for Fulham’s Academy teams, including 31 goals in 27 games for their Under-18s, and has played three times in the Premier League for his parent club.

However my London colleague also suggested Fulham boss Marco Silva has said he currently intends to have Stansfield in his senior squad next season – but such things can easily change.

I have to stress, these are just names and guesswork, based upon feedback from contacts I have around the country who know the bigger clubs, their young players and plans better than I do.

And to be clear, this is definitely not a list of players that I know Watford are considering: I don’t do rumours!

It’s merely a case of trying to get a flavour of what might be available on the loan market given we know that is an area the club are looking to utilise.

In my case, it’s just a bit of informed curiosity - but for Cleverley it’s very real and he’ll be using his network to try and find some 2024/25 versions of himself for next season.