Now I may have used this line in the Robert Snodgrass article that I posted earlier which you can also find on the site, but I may as well use it on this article so here goes……
“You wait for Watford to sign one striker and then two come along at once”
That’s because after the signing of Mauro Zarate from Fiorentina yesterday, Walter Mazzari has returned to Italy to add AC Milan forward M’Baye Niang to his forward ranks and with this new duo arriving at Vicarage Road does that now spell the end of Odion Ighalo’s stint at the club.
The Argentine Zarate was captured for just £2.5m, not a bad bit of business in regards to capturing the 29 year old Argentine. He has had Premier League experience before with Birmingham, West Ham and QPR and Watford are now the 4th English club that he will ply his trade for.
He once had the distinct honour of being the most expensive player to never earn a full international cap after his £20m move to Qatari club Al-Sadd. That distinction has now been surpassed and the international honours have never arrived either.
But although Zarate has never represented his country he has certainly had his fair share of clubs in what is a nomadic career. A career that has spanned three continents before the age of 30, taking in Argentina, Italy and Qatar as well as his stints in the Premier League.
Has Zarate lived up to the promise that he had a decade or so ago when starting his career at Velez Sarzfield perhaps and with a career that has had so many loan moves he has never really had a place to call home, but there is still a half decent striker in there somewhere and that is exactly what Watford need right now.
The partnership of Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo which was succesful in the first half of last season has failed to live up to those same early standards. Captain Deeney has only managed to find the net on 4 occasions this campaign while Ighalo has fared little better with just a solitary goal to his name.
Watford are believed to have turned down a big money move from China in the Summer for Ighalo and with hindsight perhaps they should have accepted it as it seems the Nigerians performances were somewhat of a flash in the pan.
And with both Zarate and Niang installed at Vicarage Road, it seems as if Ighalo is now further down the pecking order. Even with just that 1 goal to his name, he is still reportedly being tracked by West Brom although should a move take place it will be at a lesser cost then what a move to China would have bought.
The signing of 22 year old Niang is a loan deal until the end of the season. Niang was being tracked by a number of Premier League clubs but it’s Watford who have won the race to capture his services with the option to make the move permanent should he impress between now and May.
With 12 goals in 77 starts for the San Siro club he never quite played himself into AC Milan folklore especially compared to the great forwards that club have had over the years but should he score the goals to revive Watford’s season then he will certainly endear himself to the Vicarage Road faithful.