Former West Ham defender Angelo Ogbonna is the experienced defender that Watford will add to their options at the back.

The Watford Observer understands the 36-year-old, who is currently a free agent, will move to Vicarage Road before the transfer window closes, and fill the gap likely to be left by the departure of captain Wes Hoedt to Saudi Arabian club Al Shabab.

Although not yet officially confirmed by the club, Hoedt was said to have left the club by chairman Scott Duxbury during an online Q&A session earlier today with a number of supporter groups and podcasts.

Yesterday, head coach Tom Cleverley told the media: “Wes is a little bit more uncertain, and it’s something that I’ll pick up again next week.

“Last week I said that I’d be more confident he stays, but maybe the balance has tipped a little bit. Again there is no real news on that until I can actually confirm something.”

But 24 hours later Duxbury was talking about Hoedt in the past sense as he discussed the Dutchman leaving, and with a large gap to fill in terms of a defender with experience who can use his left foot, Ogbonna has been lined up to come in.

The 36-year-old Italian international has been with the Hammers since 2015, when he moved from Juventus for around £10m.

Since then he has made 249 appearances and scored 13 goals for the East London side, and won the Europa Conference League with them in the 2022/23 season.

He began his career in his home country with Torino where he clocked up 160 senior appearances.

A fee of £13m took him to Juventus in 2013, where he won back-to-back Serie A titles and the Coppa Italia.

Last season he spent long spells on the bench for the Hammers, but did still make 17 first-team outings and captained the team twice in the Europa League.

Ogbonna has 13 senior caps for his country, the most recent of them in 2016.

A commanding physical presence, the defender has also played as a left-sided full-back when required, but has spent most of his career at the heart of the defence.