The Hornets - Watford Football Club

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 12
Loads Of New Signings
Friday 17th July 2026

This is going to be a big Summer for us as we look to build a squad that can compete in the Premier League. My first signing is a player that comes up from the Championship with us, but has previous Premier League experience. Tom Davies has come in from Sheffield United in a bargain deal costing us just £1.1 million. He brings a superb work rate and some much needed aggression in the centre of the park.

Like Davies, our next signing also comes up from the Championship but again has previously played in the top tier. Leicester City were willing to part with striker, Patson Daka, and I was willing to pay their desired fee of £5.5 million to bring him to Watford. Again, I like Daka for his work rate, but this lad offers some blistering pace that can strike fear into the opposition and he's a decent enough finisher as well. His off the ball movement and decision making could use some work, but I am hoping he will be able to bag some important goals for us this year.

Next in was a boost to the defence, with an experienced centre back. Brendan Chardonnet comes in from Marseille for a fee of £4.5 million and at 31 years old and having played 302 career games, he will be a valuable senior player in the team this year. He's a natural leader, with some great defensive attributes...I think he is my signing of the window so far (although it's still early days).

The next signing is actually not one of mine and certainly one I wouldn't have done. Luca Kjerrumgaard was here on loan all last season and the club had already agreed a deal to sign him permanently at the end of the season for £4.3 million. However, he wasn't even a first choice regular for me in the Championship last year and only scored 5 goals in 16 league appearances. My only hope is that he will develop and we may be able to sell him for a profit at some point in the next couple of years.

21 players were released from the club this Summer. The biggest names were Moussa Sissoko who retired from playing, and Tom Ince who's contract I chose not to renew. That does mean I have let both our right wingers from last season leave and a big gap is now left to fill.

I wasted no time in bringing in a new player for that position. Carlos Martin was playing for Atletico Madrid's reserves all of last year and scored 10 goals for their B team. He might not be deemed good enough to get in the first team of one of Europe's elite clubs, but for a relegation battling Premier League side, he is more than good enough. Also, he didn't cost us anything as I managed to pick him up on a free transfer.

Another free transfer that I am really happy to get over the line is attacking midfielder, Lucas Ribeiro. The Brazilian has played a lot of his career in Belgium for Charleroi and Beveren, before featuring regularly last year in Spain's La Liga 2 for Cultural Leonesa, where he recorded an average rating of 7.25. I'm hoping he can become an important player for us.

Berkay Yilmaz is probably my favourite signing of the window so far. The left back is only 21 years old but already good enough to nail down a first team regular spot in my team. We only had to fork out £3.3 million to get him here from Nurnberg where he played 31 league games last year which is a bargain as he is immediately valued at nearly £20 million. This kid could become a very, very good left back and maybe one of the league's best over the coming seasons.

One thing I do need to make a concious effort on, is to build a squad which has an element of English players...not only because I like this (being an English club), but for squad registration rules. The English man I have turned to is a new number 1 keeper and as an Arsenal fan who loves him, I can't stress how happy I am to secure the signature of Aaron Ramsdale as our new number 1 keeper. Southampton were looking to offload him, so I managed to snap him up for just £7.5 million which seems a bargain to me. Ramsdale becomes the highest earning player at the club on £68k per week.

Then I made my first sale of the window as striker, Jorge Hurtado moves to Wrexham for a fee of £5.25 million. I didn't feel he was good enough to challenge for a spot in our first team and decided to cash in on him.

I was keen to add at least one more English player in this window and I'm delighted to have added 24 year old centre back, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, from Southampton. Taylor is already a very good player and now gets the opportunity to step back up into the top tier with us, after featuring in 34 league games for The Saints last time they were in the Prem. Harwood-Bellis signs for a fee of £13.25 million.

So far, we have played 3 pre-season friendlies, on our Portugal tour. Sporting were always going to be tough opposition, but we gave them a decent game, after recording a solid win over Estoril. Our most recent game saw us bang 8 past lower league side, Estrela, and preparation for the season ahead is well underway.