Watford’s owners, Giampaolo and Gino Pozzo, have known success in their business of exchanging young talents. They now need to replicate these methods in England to improve Watford’s status.
Since the Pozzo family acquired Watford FC in 2012, the club has gone through a period of rapid transition and change. Walter Mazzarri’s departure means the team has made six managerial changes in the past three seasons.
Although Watford hasn’t slipped to the relegation battle, the team hasn’t built on a successful campaign in the Premier League. The Hornets finished a dismal 17th, conceding 68 goals and struggling to create chances (0.98 -1.25 xG per game), according to Statsbomb.
Watford is an expansion project of Giampaolo Pozzo’s family business, which has been successful in making profits from young talents thanks to an extensive scouting network. At the beginning, Pozzo used the Hornets as the feeder club, which provided playing minutes for players who struggle to break Udinese’s first team.
Giampaolo then relinquished the administrative role to his son, Gino, in 2014. The team has undergone a rapid transformation since, making a total of 43 transfers and 13 loan offers.
More from The Top Flight
- Barcelona identify Newcastle star as Robert Lewandowski replacement
- Arsenal injury news: Mikel Arteta confirms “rapid” attacker suffered injury
- “600 days” Fans make SHOCK Chelsea revelation – They really are poor
- Arsenal transfer news: Mikel Arteta rivals Manchester United for wonderkid
- Manchester United: Erik ten Hag pinpoints 4 players amid Brighton loss
However, the team has been more an experimental squad. Of those 43 players who landed at Vicarage Road, 19 players have left the team, while 18 players haven’t registered more than 10 appearances.
The team was able to acquire more established players thanks to the luxurious television package. According to transfermarkt, the team’s value stands at 127,25 million Euros, a 270 percent increase since Gino started his investment.
Despite this, Pozzo’s trademark scouting network has been met with limited success. Most of the youngsters failed to shine and were allowed to leave soon enough. Juan Carlos Paredes, Marco Motta, Steven Berghuis, Mario Suarez, Adalberto Penaranda and Jerome Sinclair are among the names who struggled.
Although Watford has a deeper squad comparing to other middle table teams, its aging players is a concern. The team’s average age of 29.2 is the second-highest in the Premier League, behind Stoke City with 29.7.
The team must strive to not repeat the miserable failure of Queen Park Rangers in the 2012 offseason. The Hoops signed aging veterans, such as Ryan Nelsen, Julio Cesar, Jose Bosingwa, Ji-sung Park, Tal Ben Haim and Andy Johnson. They struggled to keep up with the league pace, and the Hoops were relegated.
Watford will have another merry-go-round summer considering half of the players might leave the team. It should be an opportunity for the Hornets to integrate young players into the squad in a bid to look for consistency.
Next: FA to issue retrospective bans for diving
Back in Italy, Pozzo was successful in discovering and introducing those of Alexis Sanchez, Kwadwo Asamoah and Samir Handanovic to European football. The team must repeat its success in discovering young talents in order to improve its status in the Premier League.