English Championship club Watford are closing in on the signing of Udinese and Super Eagles defender William Troost-Ekong, Sport Witness reports.
Watford are set to strengthen their defence by bringing Troost-Ekong to Vicarage Road from Serie A.
According to Transfermarkt, the 27-year-old is valued at £2.8 million.
Watford are looking for some new signings before the end of the transfer window after starting life back in the Championship with a win and a draw in their opening two games.
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Troost-Ekong has been with Udinese for the past two years and has made 66 appearances in all competitions for the Italian side.
He spent time as a youngster in London playing for the academies at Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur before moving to Holland to join FC Groningen.
He then joined Gent in 2015 and stayed with the Belgian Pro League outfit for two seasons, one of which he spent in Norway on loan at FK Haudesund.
Troost-Ekong then continued his travels with a year in Turkey at Bursaspor before joining Udinese in 2018.
He is now on the verge of joining Watford, with Vladimir Ivic’s side looking to seal a deal for him over the coming days.
23 Comments
I cant question his transfer….Transfers this days is not about which league is bigger…am sure he knows the reason why he is heading there
From guaranteed starting shirt in Serie A to English Championship…? If this is a joke pls stop it.
Treading the almost forbidden path. Definitely not now that many more defensive players are choosing to represent nigeria. Troost you ‘d better think properly.
I reject it for you ekong.this must not happen it’s a bad news for Nigeria football.
Hmm….thats our stand in Captain.
Even Balogun left Wigan for Rangers so what is he thinking?
I reject it for you ekong.this must not happen it’s a bad news for Nigeria football.and ur value?so pathetic
I doubt if Ekong will accept this offer. He is not even want -away by Udinese, Even Aina that was declared Surplus by Torino was loaned to Fulham, a premiership club. Omeruo is fighting tooth and nail to Leave Leganes cos he doesn’t want to play in LA liga B,Ekong pls for the sake of your SE career, don’t go to Watford, even if they are tempting you with higher pay which is very likely. If you must leave Udinese, let it be to a premiership club, we fans won’t have problems with that.
You people don’t understand, the owner of udinese owns granada and Watford. Amongst these three clubs, Watford generates higher funds than his other clubs, so he will need his best players to save where his most incomes comes from. I am not surprised. But for a player like Ekong to go to Watford this time, will be disastrous for his super eagles carrier. Now that host of German born defenders wants to come in to super eagles. Ekong must refuse this and seek remedy somewhere else.
When I said it hasn’t been best of move for Nigeria this season some were saying rubbish. How can you move from seria to championship not even to a team that will fight relegation in premiership like Fulham,Brighton, Westbrom etc but to Watford who is not even sure of getting instant promotion to EPL judging by their current squad?. The last time one move from Laliga to Turkey and they call it a good move isn’t that descending? A good move is the one from Latvia league to German Bundesliga reported few days ago. Balogun also made a good move but this i don’t get it he had better remain at Udinese that joining Watford all the name of playing in England. No doubt move like this can not add any value to our national team. Hope it isca joke as someone rightly say.
When I said it hasn’t been best of move for Nigeria players this season some were saying rubbish. How can you move from seria to championship not even to a team that will fight relegation in premiership like Fulham,Brighton, Westbrom etc but to Watford who is not even sure of getting instant promotion to EPL judging by their current squad?. The last time one move from Laliga to Turkey and they call it a good move isn’t that descending? A good move is the one from Latvia league to German Bundesliga reported few days ago. Balogun also made a good move but this i don’t get it he had better remain at Udinese than joining Watford all in the name of playing in England. No doubt move like this can not add any value to our national team. Hope it is a joke as someone rightly said
The writer said closing in,so the deal would most likely happen.
I think Ekong has an eye for the premiership which is the dream of most professional footballer.The idea is to help Watford return to the premiership which automatically makes him a Premiership player since no team from the premiership showed interest in him.
Watford could provide a platform for Troost to achieve his dream.
In this situation,Watford may have convinced him with their project an investment which could take them back to the premiership one year after they went down to the championship.
This might have spurred Troost to take the chance.
Are you guys kidding me, In as much as agree that Granada, Udinese and Watford have same owners, If they actually want to strengthen one, not to deprive another, Watford were almost relegated last season,They also need help, Ekong was key to their survival last term, There is no sense in weakening Udinese to strengthen Watford.The owners should please look for defenders for Watford elsewhere and Leave our Eking alone. I am suspecting that these guys might want to enforce this move.They can’t try this rubbish if Ekong was an Italian.
The same family own Watford, Udinese and Granada in Spain where Ighalo and Isaac success played for.
The family might be moving him to England to strengthen Watford as it appears to be their biggest franchise Money wise.It is not a transaction done at arm’s length
Na him know oh. balogun and ajayi can do a good job too, if not better than omeruo and ekong (their best have not been good enough). i suspected this move to come bcos if you are not improving in your deffensive and technical aspect of your game after two years u will lose value. same case of omeruo. big teams will hardly show up. ajayi and balogun should simply take their places in eagles starting 11 as they are both regulars at the moment. besides that this days modern football expecially at the world stage, your deffending must be parded with techniks and skills, if possible scoring goals and throwing fine passes should be an addition to ur ability. thats why i like balogun, despite he hard difficult times of late, that guy is the only complete deffender i can boast of. ekong and ajayi are second choices for me.
This is tricky but…
What if Watford with Ekong now gain promotion back to the EPL this season??
A blessing in disguise or a Step down?
Udinese(ita), watford(eng) and Granada(spa) are all clubs own by the puzzo family. That might play a major reason why he’s going to watford.
Ok…so if he succeed in helping Watford secure the promotion to EPL and Udinese get relegated, the so called family Owners will force him back to Udinese?
Of course he’s not a dummy that you push around and he will surely not go back to Udinese if Watford qualifies for Premier League. He’s going up with them.
I don’t know what is in his contract but from past Nigeria players who had played for one of these club , you can see a pattern of players exchange among these clubs. E.g. ighalo played for udinese, watford, Granada. Isaac success played for Granada and watford. Obodo also did the same thing. It might be a clause that was written in their contract that they might have to honor.
The 3 clubs are owned by the same family/company or atleast they used to be
Well…it is now confirmed.
4 year deal.
Well at this moment, we can only start praying for him if that’s true albeit quite disappointing. Might just be a step back to make a mighty leap. God knows best. Wish you good luck @ Troost and God bless.
Not the best option for Ekong. You had a torrid time playing for some minor teams in minor leagues before getting your big break in Udinese and now you want to switch to little Watford in the championship? Your PR will drop plus you will be handing your shirt in the super eagles to any young up and comer who plays in a slightly more illustrious club than yours. Stay were you are and establish yourself or move within that setting. But if you must come to England, let it be a premiership side. Make the right choice man. All the best!!!