[FM20] Watford F.C.

[RazorsEdge]

WATFORD FOOTBALL CLUB

Introduction - Why play as Watford?:-

The 2019/2020 season has gotten off to a horrendous start for Watford with them sacking manager Quique Sánchez Flores after his second stint in charge of the club lasted only a matter of months. As such, the club represents a good challenge for players in FM. Watford definitely possess good players, however they also carry a lot of dead weight, which I'll touch on later. Being owned by the Pozzo's they have first rights on any player being sold from Udinese and also have a very, very large squad of players with many of them out on loan. The challenge for the player lies within being able to move the older players on, retain younger players that are actually good, recruit new younger players AND keep within budget whilst trying to finish in the mid-table of the Premier League. With a weak squad it is definitely a challenge, however as I will outline later on it is not impossible. First some history on the Hornets, though since you will be taking charge of the club feel free to ignore the part about this season under Javi Gracia and Quique Sánchez Flores.

History:-

The Watford Football Club was founded in 1898 with the amalgamation of West Herts and Watford St. Mary's, though the club recognises its founding as 1881. Watford joined the Football League in 1920 and after moving around they finally settled into a home at Vicarage Road in 1922.

Perhaps Watford's most notable period was during Graham Taylor's 10 year managerial stint from 1977 to 1987 that saw the club rise from the Fourth to the First Division, even finishing second in the league in 1982/1983 which led to the Hornets competing int he UEFA Cup the following season. Watford also lost 2-0 to Everton in the 1984 FA Cup Final. After Taylor left the club they fell down to the Second Division (now the 3rd tier of football with the creation of the Premier League) before Taylor returned for a second stint from 1997 until his retirement in 2001 which saw the club secure back to back promotions after winning the Second Division in 1997/1998 and winning the First Division play-offs in 1998/1999.

Watford only lasted in the Premier League for a single season, however, with the club finished on the bottom of the table. Taylor stayed on for one more season before he retired and was replaced by Gianluca Vialli. During the Italian's time at the club wage bills rose dramatically - especially for a club who were languishing in the mid-table of the First Division. Vialli only lasted a season, largely in part to the aforementioned wage issues leading to disputes with the club's board and was replaced by Ray Lewington.

Watford faced administration in 2002/2003 as their financial situation was precarious to say the least. Players and staff agreed to a wage deferral to help the club's cash flow and reaching the FA Cup semi-final provided some much needed funds. The financial constraints were too much, however, with a large number of players released in the summer. The 2003/2004 season saw the Hornets finish 16th with a much weaker squad and the following season started promising with the team initially in the upper half of the (now renamed) Championship. Poor form came to the club and they dropped to the relegation zone leading to Lewington's sacking in March of 2005. Aidy Boothroyd succeeded him and led the club out of the relegation zone ending the season in 18th.

The next season was a complete turn around as Boothroyd led Watford to finish 3rd, defeating Leeds United 3-0 in the play-offs to gain promotion to the Premier League once again. While Watford managed to reach the Fa Cup semi-finals again, they also finished bottom of the league winning only 5 games. Boothroyd continued with the club until a few months into the 2008/2009 season when he left the club by mutual consent with Watford sitting 21st in the Championship table.

Irishman Brendan Rodgers had a brief cameo appearance as manager leading the team to 13th on the table before departing to Reading at the end of the season. Malky Mackay then took charge. Watford continued to struggle financially and once again came close to administration. Mackay left to manage Cardiff City in June 2011 after achieving nothing of note. His replacement Sean Dyche led Watford to their highest league position in 4 years but was controversially dismissed in July 2012 and replaced by former Italian international and Chelsea icon Gianfranco Zola following the Pozzo family's purchase of the club.

With financial woes behind them Watford managed to finish 3rd in the Championship in 2012/2013, losing in the play-off final to Crystal Palace 1-0. The next season Zola was replaced by Giuseppe Sannino and finished in 13th. Sannino resigned before the new season and was replaced by Óscar García who shortly after resigned for health reasons. Billy McKinlay was the next man in charge and despite getting 4 points out of 6 under his leadership he was replaced just 8 days into his tenure by Serbian Slaviša Jokanović. Under Jokanović Watford won promotion to the Premier League at the end of the 2014/2015 season finishing 2nd in the Championship.

Oddly Jokanović's contract was not renewed by Watford and he was replaced by Spaniard Quique Sánchez Flores. In their first season back in the top flight they finished 13th and reached the FA Cup semi-finals again. Towards the end of the season Sánchez Flores utilised a clause in his contract that allowed him to break his contract as he felt that he and the owners did not share the same point of view about the season. Italian Walter Mazzarri signed next. The following season Watford just beat the drop finishing 17th with Mazzarri resigning after just a single season in charge. He was replaced by Marco Silva who in turn was sacked six months later and replaced by Javi Gracia in January 2018. Gracia was sacked on the 7th of September 2019, replaced by the returning Sánchez Flores, who in turn was sacked on the 1st of December 2019 with the club on the bottom of the Premier League tale.

During the Pozzo's ownership of the team significant money has been spent with Vicarage Road's main stand being demolished and replaced by the new Sir Elton John Stand. The Pozzo's also own Udinese Calcio in the Italian Serie A and owned Spanish La Liga side Granada CF until June 2016. This allowed for a lot of freedom of movement of players between all three clubs and allowed Watford to have more players on their books who were loaned out to further their development, and in some cases seek work permits.

-

Watford Football Club 2019/2020 Season:-

Home Ground: Vicarage Road (Capacity: 21,250)
Training Facilities: London Colney, St. Albans
-Suberb training facilities
-Excellent data analysis facilities
-Great youth facilities
-Adequate academy coaching
-Good youth recruitment
Media Prediction: 11th
Transfer Budget: £15M
Wage Budget: £1,251,238 p/w (£41.18K p/w available)

-

Season Thoughts:-

As you can see above the board expects you to finish in the mid-table which is something that should be easily doable. They also expect the team to reach the FA Cup Fifth Round, the Carabao Cup Fourth Round and next season to finish in the top half of the table, with the following years to work towards being recognised as 'the best of the rest'. The board also requires you to work within your wage budget and desires the signing of young players to develop for profit, which is something that Watford are doing in real life. In addition they would prefer if you do not sign players over the age of 32, desire you to sign players under the age of 23 that are first team ready, and desire you to sign players under the age of 21 for the future. All of these are achievable. £15M in the transfer budget is a tidy sum which can be added to by further player sales, something I'll touch on more later. The wage budget only has around £40K p/w spare which in the Premier League is not a lot, so again shifting high earners that aren't worth it is a huge priority.

-

[RazorsEdge]

Watford Football Club 2019/2020 Squad:-

Goalkeepers:-

1. Heurelho Gomes

26. Ben Foster

35. Daniel Bachmann

Defenders:-

2. Daryl Janmaat

4. Craig Dawson

5. Sebastian Prödl

6. Adrian Mariappa (VC)

11. Adam Masina

15. Craig Cathcart

21. Kiko Femenía

25. José Holebas

27. Christian Kabasele

32. Marvin Zeegelaar

36. Dimitri Foulquier

Midfielders:-

8. Tom Cleverley

14. Nathaniel Chalobah

16. Abdoulaye Doucouré

19. Will Hughes

20. Domingos Quina + Out for 10 days-3 weeks with a dislocated shoulder

29. Etienne Capoue

37. Roberto Pereyra

Wingers:-

7. Gerard Deulofeu

10. Danny Welbeck + Out for 7 weeks-3 months with a broken ankle

22. Isaac Success

23. Ismaïla Sarr

Ken Sema (on loan at Udinese)

Forwards:-

9. Troy Deeney (C) + Out for 4-6 months with damaged knee cartilage

18. Andre Gray

Best of the Rest:-

30. Pontus Dahlberg (GK)

James Hoskins (GK)

Pervis Estupiñán (DL, ML, AML) (On loan at Osasuna / No work permit)

Marc Navarro (DR, RWB, AMR) (On loan at Leganés / Optional future fee of £2.58M)

Jorge Segura (DC) (On loan at Atlas / No work permit)

Ben Wilmot (DC) (On loan at Swansea)

Tom Dele-Bashiru (MC)

Sonny-Lo Everton (MC, AMC)

Kaylen Hinds (AMC ST)

Matheus (ML, AML, ST) (On loan at Mirandés / No work permit)

Juan "Cucho" Hernández (ST, AMC) (On loan at Mallorca / No work permit)

Luis Suárez (ST) (On loan at Real Zaragoza)

Filip Stuparevic (ST) (On loan at Příbram)

Adalberto Peñaranda (ST, AML) (On loan at Eupen)

Ryan Cassidy (ST)

-

Edited December 3, 2019 by RazorsEdge

[RazorsEdge]

Watford Football Club Squad Analysis:-

Watford have a squad with a lot of dead wood in it - and when I say a lot I mean a lot. There are sweeping changes needed as there are players on big contracts that don't deserve the money and an overabundance of defenders that aren't needed. When you begin the game you will be told that your best formation is a 5-3-2 with wing-backs - this is incorrect. Your best formation limits your best player in Gerard Deulofeu - he has nowhere to play. As such this guide will take into account tactical changes that are to be covered later.

Goalkeepers:-

Ben Foster (36) is without a doubt your first choice goalkeeper. Heurelho Gomes (38) provides an able backup, but with a year remaining on his contract he will likely retire at the end of the season. Daniel Bachmann is only 24 but doesn't look like being a fantastic prospect in the future and the opportunity to promote the already capped Pontus Dahlberg to the main squad to learn from Foster and Gomes is too good of an opportunity to pass up. This area of the squad will need strengthening in the future. Dahlberg can easily go beyond Foster's current ability but there are doubts over whether he will be a top level 'keeper if Watford get into Europe.
VERDICT: Keep Foster, Gomes. Promote Dahlberg. Sell Bachmann

Defenders:-

Arguments could be made that the forward line is the weakest part of the squad with Troy Deeney injured but I strongly disagree. The defence is a shambles. There are players that simply are not good enough at Premier League level being paid top dollar and players that are suited to the 5-3-2 formation which doesn't suit the club. On top of that a lot of them are getting old. A major overhaul is required here - there is not a single defender that I have marked down to keep in the long run. Dawson has just arrived and he and Cathcart should form your initial central defensive pairing.
VERDICT: Keep Dawson, Masina, Cathcart, Femenia, Kabasele, Femenia. Sell Janmaat, Prödl, Mariappa, Holebas, Zeegelaar & Foulquier. Note: I had to pay around £10K P/W to get rid of Janmaat and Prödl was loaned out with an option to buy but it was worth it to clear up wage money.

Midfielders:-

This is one area of the squad where major upheaval isn't required. Doucouré, Chalobah and Capoue are fine for the moment - note that Capoue will require replacing as he is getting older. Cleverley, Hughes & Quina provide reliable backup. I included Roberto Pereyra here because he is so versatile but he will play mainly on the left wing.
VERDICT: Keep Chalobah, Doucouré, Hughes, Quina, Pereyra. Keep (For now) Capoue & Cleverley.

Wingers:-

Probably the strongest area of the squad with an if - if you can hold onto Gerard Deulofeu. As previously mentioned Roberto Pereyra will also be included in this group and he and Deulofeu should be your main wingers. Welbeck provides alright support when he returns from injury, though he is injury prone. Success is an able backup who has potential, as is Sarr who is has the best potential of the two. Sarr also adds the bonus of being equally capable on either flank. Ken Sema is on loan to sister club Udinese but looks to be little more than a squad player and there are others out on loan that can do it better than he can.
VERDICT: Keep Deulofeu, Success, Sarr. Keep (For now) Welbeck & Sema.

Forwards:-

Watford only have two natural options upfront - Troy Deeney who is ageing and declining, and Andre Gray who is a Championship player at best. Due to lack of funds there isn't much you can do in the way of bolstering the forward line but the club is stacked with forwards out on loan who can replace Gray in season 2.
VERDICT: Keep Deeney (club icon, keep him until retirement - use as impact sub as he ages). Keep (For now) Gray.

Best of the Rest:-

When managing Watford the words "work permit" are poison to your ears. The club has 22 players out on loan and of that 22 a staggering 8 of them do not have work permits to play in England. This severely limits what you can do as outside of these players there isn't a lot of quality in the youth ranks.
Goalkeeper wise as previously mentioned Pontus Dahlberg should be promoted (but made available for U23's). James Hoskins is 18 years old and could potentially develop into a backup 'keeper used to fill home grown player quotas.
In defence there is Pervis Estupiñán who could be an able backup left-back if you can get a work permit for him. Marc Navarro is on loan at Leganés and has a future fee of £2.58M in place, though he also could be an able deputy right-back. Jorge Segura doesn't have a work permit and doesn't look like it will be worth keeping him around. Ben Wilmot is on loan at Swansea - you could recall him to bolster your defence but I feel he would benefit from more playing time on loan.
Moving to the midfield and Tom Dele-Bashiru could develop into a squad player but nothing more. Sonny Lo-Everton is a 16 year-old midfielder who could develop into a squad player eventually. Kaylen Hinds can play as an AMC or ST but lacks real potential. Matheus looks like he could be a good squad option if you choose to cash in on Isaac Success but he is without a work permit.
Going to the forward line and this is where Watford have the most options. Juan "Cucho" Hernández has the potential to be a top Premier League striker but wait - no work permit. Hold onto him though as I believe it'll be worth the wait. Next is the (non-bitey) Luis Suárez. He could also be a starting player in the future but doesn't look as good as Cucho, though he has Spanish as a second nationality and therefore has a work permit. Filip Stuparevic is a 18 year-old striker who could develop into a solid backup/cup starter in a few years time. Adalberto Peñaranda could rival Cucho for your starting striker position and is also comfortable on the left wing. He also has a current work permit. Finally young Ryan Cassidy is 18 years old and much like the previous players could prove to be a solid squad/cup striker.
VERDICT: Out of all the players needing work permits, Cucho is the one to keep. The others leaving is no big loss. The main players to keep for me are Dahlberg, Hoskins, Wilmot, Cucho, Suárez, Stuparevic, Peñaranda and Cassidy. Yes I realise this overloads you with attackers but retraining them as wingers will help and they can help bring in transfer funds in the future after they've developed more.

Tomorrow I will head into some tactical info, followed up by some suggested transfer signings to finish this guide off.

Edited December 3, 2019 by RazorsEdge

[RazorsEdge]

Watford Football Club Tactical Analysis:-

Your recommended formation of 5-3-2 is completely wrong. While it suits the players at your club (despite the lack of striker depth) it does not suit your star player Gerard Deulofeu. As a result I would recommend any formation that has wingers in it. I will outline the three tactics I chose to go with below. I have also included what your First XI should look like with your starting squad. You will notice that the tactics are "vanilla" I've done little except change a few player roles from the presets - however I adjust and adapt for each game.

Tactic A (For general use):-

This is your go to tactic for all occasions. It is a tactic that I have had much success with over a number of games, most notably in my Leicester CIty career. Starting at the back Ben Foster plays as a standard GK, he isn't suited to the sweeper keeper role and until you have someone who is I would advise against it. Cathcart and Dawson provide a strong pairing in the centre of defence. I have chosen to have both players as BPD(D) however I have had success with changing one to a CD(C) as well. On the left, Masina will play in a supporting wing-back role to help out Roberto Pereyra when he cuts in from the left wing. On the right Daryl Janmaat is an attacking wing-back to really help focus the attack down the right hand side where you are strongest. Etienne Capoue sits ahead of the defenders as a DLP(D). He will be the midfield general who will distribute the ball to your two hard-working box-to-box midfielders in Abdoulaye Doucouré and Nathaniel Chalobah. I like to use two BBM, however you can go with one and have another in another role, probably an advanced playmaker (on support). On the wings Deulofeu is set as an attacking winger on the right and Pereyra as an attacking inverted winger on the left so he can cut in and use his dominant foot. When he cuts in Masina will provide cover on the left. Finally upfront I have chosen to go with an attacking deep lying forward. I have chosen this because your midfielders are good enough that they could outscore your strikers so having a player upfront looking to spread the ball to his teammates is ideal.

Tactic B (For use against stronger teams):-

A basically identical tactic however everyone is eased off of attacking duties except for Deulofeu. This is played in a balanced Tiki-Taka style in an effort to keep the ball off of your stronger opposition and try to work it forward for a goal. I would recommend using this against sides like Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal and Spurs, however if you are playing at home I think it is worth starting the game on the previous tactic to see if you can score early.

Tactic C (For use when attack is a priority):-

This tactic shifts the DLP(D) to the centre of midfield alongside a single BBM and pushes another player into the attacking midfield section of the ground with an AP(S) duty. Using this tactic allows Pereyra to move across into the middle, making way for Sarr, Welbeck or Success. I would recommend use of this tactic against teams you expect to crush or when you desperately need a goal.

In conclusion I feel as though these three tactics will serve Watford well. There will be some player retraining required to get them used to their new roles but other than that in my experience they seem to take to it fairly quickly.

Next up I will go through some transfer advice.

Edited December 4, 2019 by RazorsEdge

[RazorsEdge]

Watford Football Club Transfer Market:-

Watford begin with another player already on the way - yet another striker in João Pedro - who will arrive in the January transfer window. He will be 18 by the time he reaches Vicarage Road and has good potential. He has the ability to play on either wing as well so more training in those areas to increase his versatility would be welcome. However compared to the other players at the club I feel as though he isn't quite as suited for the style of football being played. Therefore I would recommend developing him and then selling him for a profit, fulfilling one of the board's wishes.

Transfers Out:-
Dimitri Foulquier to Al-Ahli for £4.5M
Daryl Janmaat to Burnley for £10M + Watford paying £6.5K P/W in wages
Marvin Zeegelaar on loan to Huddersfield for £235Kp/m + plus his £20K wages paid for + a mandatory fee of £1.9M after 20 matches
Adrian Mariappa to Al-Ahli for £3.2M
José Holebas to Al-Duhail for £875K
Daniel Bachmann to Seattle for £1.3M
Sebastian Prödl on loan to Swansea with them paying £31.5K out of £45K p/w and an optional fee of £3.7M

In total I sold six defenders and 1 goalkeeper. Just these transfers alone increased the transfer budget by almost £20M and added around £150K P/W to the wage budget. After these transfers, however, my once bloated defensive stocks were now in need of reinforcement. All of these sales were made before I signed a single player, ensuring I didn't create an overabundance of a certain type of player.

Transfers In:-
Starting with the DC position and I easily could've waited 28 days and recalled Ben Wilmot from his loan at Swansea. I chose to wait, however, and allow the youngster to develop. I looked at Mainz' Moussa Niakhaté (available for around £11M), Hamburg's Rick van Drongelen (available for around £6M), FC Red Bull Salzburg's Jérôme Onguéné (club not interested in selling) before deciding on signing Rangers' Connor Goldson for £10M pounds. Goldson, whilst older than the other players I mentioned, has the bonus of being around the same ability as your starting centre-backs so when he steps in there shouldn't be too much worry. On top of that he qualifies as an English homegrown player, something that will become important if Watford wish to compete in Europe again.

Next came the left-back position. After being rejected by free agent Fábio Coentrão and finding that most young prospects cost far too much I decided that Adam Masina would be a capable enough starting left-back for this season. Instead I brought in young Norwegian Fredrik André Bjørkan from Bodø/Glimt for £1.3M. While he is never going to set the world on fire I believe he will develop into a reliable backup option and he can also operate anywhere on the left flank as well as the right (to a lesser extent).

Now for the position where I had no depth at all, right-back. I identified three targets early on - Czech Pavel Kaderabek, Frenchman Kévin Malcuit and my final choice Thomas Meunier from PSG for £4M. Coming from PSG his wage demands were on the higher side at around £60K P/W however I believe the 27 year-old can operate as the first choice right-back for at least 2-3 seasons. There was still a lack of depth at right back and despite my attempts to bring in a young prospect to develop, nothing eventuated as their clubs were simply asking for too much money. This is an area I will look into more come the January transfer window. For now Craig Dawson and Fredrik André Bjørkan can play there in a pinch, though Dawson is one of the top central defenders at the club and as such will spend most of his time there.

Somewhat ironically the last area of the squad that needed strengthening was the position in which the club has the most depth - striker. The club has many strikers - out on loan. In your fist time you have Troy Deeney, who is ageing and injured for 3 months, and Andre Gray who is not Premier League material. I initially considered bringing ex-Man Utd striker Chicharito to the club on loan, however I decided I wanted a player I could potentially sell for profit later on. I looked into players such as Rangers' Alfredo Morelos, Celtic's Odsonne Edouard and Genoa's Michael Kouamé, however all of these were in the £20M+ range. Eventually I settled on FC Porto's 27 year-old Cameroonion striker Vincent Aboubakar, who I was able to bring in for just £8.5M - his exact value. Aboubakar will be a more than capable starting striker - he'll even challenge Troy Deeney for the number 1 spot on his return from injury. Because of all the strikers that the club has out on loan, I only intend to keep Aboubakar for a season or two before selling him off for profit to make way for the more talented youngsters.

After this I was left with around £10M in the transfer budget and £28K P/W in the wage budget. After looking at a few players such as Simon Tibbling, Ronaldo Vieira and Erick Gutierrez to bolster my midfield stocks, I decided that the club could do without and the money would be better saved until January after seeing how the club performs. After these signings my starting XI looked like this:-

These transfers and the players I looked at were merely suggestions for you to use. I strongly recommend following  my clean out of the defensive line and starting to build it again. In the future the club will require more depth at right-back. Other concerns are a replacement for Gerard Deulofeu if he is snatched away by another club. Other than that I believe that in the immediate future your money should go into your defensive line, looking for replacements for Dawson and Cathcart. While the two are perfectly capable, if you wish to go on and play in Europe you will need an upgrade. Pontus Dahlberg is a good 'keeper for the future but you may need to sign someone else while he develops.

Edited December 4, 2019 by RazorsEdge

[RazorsEdge]

That concludes my short guide on Watford. I hope you enjoyed it and were able to pick up some tips and implement them into your game. Please share how you go with the Hornets as I really feel they're an interesting team to manage given their current real life situation.

If you enjoyed my guide and would like to see something similar for another team please feel free to leave suggestions. I would prefer if they were Premier League teams as that is the division I feel most comfortable in.

Thank you for reading!

[united99]

As a united fan I would love to see if we share the same views etc so would love to see you do a Manchester United save?

[dothestrand]

@RazorsEdge Nice. I think Watford would be a good EPL save. There is a huge task ahead in cutting and reshaping a large squad. The board seem ambitious and possibly as trigger happy as in real life, but this should be a fun save. 

[Welshace]

I'm thinking about starting a Watford save after the manager's sacking irl.. seems a decent challenge.

I've never seen a squad so full of mediocre players on massive wages and massive transfer values.. should be easy to clear out players..

I'm no Watford fan so don't get too upset if I end up clearing out fan favourites  . But when you have unwanted players worth 28million in the squad who are wanted by clubs on day one, it's an easy choice to get rid.  Will return if I end up going for it., and update how my pre season goes.

 

[SRL88]

Nice work man 

[RazorsEdge]

15 hours ago, Welshace said:

I'm thinking about starting a Watford save after the manager's sacking irl.. seems a decent challenge.

I've never seen a squad so full of mediocre players on massive wages and massive transfer values.. should be easy to clear out players..

I'm no Watford fan so don't get too upset if I end up clearing out fan favourites  . But when you have unwanted players worth 28million in the squad who are wanted by clubs on day one, it's an easy choice to get rid.  Will return if I end up going for it., and update how my pre season goes.

 

Good luck if you decide to go with it. A lot of the players that I actually recommended to keep aren't that flash either, to be honest, or at least they tend to under perform. There's just no point in trying to overhaul the entire squad in one go.

I think with Marco Silva's possible sacking soon I might do an Everton guide as well while I'm waiting for the patch to fix the game crashes as they always seem to under perform in FM as in real life.

[Rikki220490]

As a Watford fan myself I have really enjoyed reading this. I am always happy to help with anyone wanting to start a save with my beloved Hornets (I promise I'm not biased)

 

[dothestrand]

I skipped a season in a save and Watford went down, so I'm going to start a game in the Championship (but I'll need to come back up!) A lot of dross that you can move on for decent money, which can be reinvested in good, young talent - and then there are the great young players already there!!!

[dothestrand]

So the transfer window was busy. I'm trying to sign as many young UK and Irish players as possible and phase out the overseas players. Going into 20-21, I've won the first four games, including demolishing Leeds 4-1 away from home. Bazunu  was obviously crazy money and he'll be my backup keeper for this season but he has such high potential. Boye/Rossiter were already agreed when I started the game but they'll move on next season.

Edited December 19, 2019 by dothestrand

[SipontumFMF]

I started a save with Watford, but I can't understand how the affiliation with Udinese works...The game says "players may move freely between Udinese and Watford", but if I make an offer for any of their players, it's always rejected. Does anybody have the same problem?

Edited January 3, 2020 by SipontumFMF

[Welshace]

I believe the move freely is one way.... so in this case, Udinese should be able to bid £0 on your players and it will be accepted... 

 

Watford seem to only have the first option clause in the deal.. meaning that if anyone tries to buy an udinese player, watford will be informed and have the option to match the bid and it will be accepted.

 

Edit: .. just checked this myself in game by taking over Udinese ... it doesn't work.... i don't understand it myself either then....

[SipontumFMF]

1 hour ago, Welshace said:

I believe the move freely is one way.... so in this case, Udinese should be able to bid £0 on your players and it will be accepted... 

 

Watford seem to only have the first option clause in the deal.. meaning that if anyone tries to buy an udinese player, watford will be informed and have the option to match the bid and it will be accepted.

 

Edit: .. just checked this myself in game by taking over Udinese ... it doesn't work.... i don't understand it myself either then....

Maybe it is valid only if both clubs are managed by AI...

[Nakiro]

On 03/01/2020 at 11:12, SipontumFMF said:

Maybe it is valid only if both clubs are managed by AI...

Nope! I was playing with Udinese(because I started without team)  and by the end of the first year with a very acceptable season I started looking that the players I scouted from the Watford were showing price £0, So I started offering contracts to almost all the Watford players LOL at the end this is what I got (I still don't know exactly when is possible to do it, but I was able right after the season ended and before the next transfer windows open, after the transfer windows opened I wasn't able to do it no more):

Joao Pedro -  Free Transfer

Gerard Deulofeu -  Free Transfer

Antonio Marin -  Free Transfer

Domingos Quina -  Free Transfer

[Mikal]

Just wanted to post up about Sarr. I inherited him when I took over Lyon in 24/25 season, originally thought I'd get rid due to value and wage, but in the interest of not wanting to disrupt the squad too much I kept him and he returned unbelievable numbers. 30 goals, 16 assists, 14 POM in 33 games. Farmers league and that, but just in case anyone was considering giving him a chance (at Watford or another club).