Tom Cleverley left Yaser Asprilla out of his 20-man squad on Saturday because he preferred to involve players that he knows will be at Watford for the long term.

The Colombian was at Vicarage Road both on Tuesday for the Carabao Cup win over MK Dons, and again for the 3-0 victory over Stoke on Saturday.

The young midfielder was seen walking round the edge of the pitch before the game, and was full of smiles as he posed for selfies and shook hands with fans.

Of course, Asprilla is still on the Vicarage Road wage bill despite the persistent rumours of what now seems to be an inevitable departure, and some fans may feel that he should be earning his money on the pitch.

But Cleverley said it was his decision to leave the 20-year-old out of the squad.

“He’d only trained properly with the team for seven days because of the Copa America during the summer,” the Watford head coach explained.

“Everyone is working towards and preparing for Yaser leaving the club, so I’d rather involve people who are part of the long-term project.

“I fully respect that his qualities could win us games in the short term but that’s my decision and I have to stand by that.”

Asprilla trained with his current teammates last week, but since the end of last season he has only played 18 minutes of a Copa America group game against Costa Rica on June 28, and 45 minutes of a friendly with Bolivia two weeks before that.

Cleverley told the media after the win over Stoke that he expects Asprilla to leave, and the youngster has been linked with all sorts of clubs since the turn of the year, most recently the likes of Rennes, Girona and Leicester City.

His situation is slightly clouded by a dispute between what appears to be an agent he had a contract with while in Colombia, and another agent he started using since moving to England.

However, that would not preclude him from agreeing a move elsewhere, and it now just seems to be a question of which club it is and when in the next 12 days that it happens.