"A lot of fun" - Watford FC player tipped for big future after Celtic snub | OneFootball

FLW'S Watford fan pundit has predicted a big future for Rocco Vata, who rejected a new contract at Celtic to head to Vicarage Road in the summer

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Rocco Vata has been tipped for a significant future at Watford after signing from Celtic during the summer.

The young winger became Watford's second signing of the summer transfer window back in July, when he signed a four-year contract with the Hornets in order to seal his departure from Parkhead.

Watford were only obliged to pay Celtic £237,000 in training compensation for Vata, who had reportedly been tracked by clubs in Germany, Italy and Belgium alongside other undisclosed domestic rivals.

Stern competition was fought off for a player widely regarded among the most impressive young talents in Scottish football, and Celtic had intended on keeping hold of Vata before he rebuffed their offer of a new contract.

It felt like a real coup at the time and Watford supporters have since taken to Vata, who enjoyed white-hot pre-season form and has offered exciting cameos from the bench thus far in the new competitive campaign despite not yet becoming a key figure in the first-team picture.

The 19-year-old's only start of the 2024/25 Championship campaign after nine matches was in last month's 4-1 drubbing at Norwich City and he has appeared as a substitute against Coventry and Preston North End, although he did feature in all of Watford's three EFL Cup fixtures and has shown enough from limited minutes to make a real impression.

Rocco Vata tipped for big Watford FC future

Our resident Hornets fan pundit, Justin Beattie, was asked to name one Watford player who he believes may represent the next breakthrough star at Vicarage Road, and he promptly went with Vata.

"I think our next youngster who's going to be a breakthrough star is Rocco Vata, who we purchased from Celtic in the summer," Justin told Football League World.

"We haven't seen a lot of him yet, but he looks like a lot of fun and the sort of player who's happy to go forward, happy to take a shot outside of the box.

"When he comes on in substitute appearances, he always looks lively.

"I think Vata could be the one that's going to be the breakthrough star, even though he started at Celtic and not Watford, I think his career is going to properly begin and blossom at Watford so keep an eye out for him."

Exciting young talent is emerging at Watford FC

Tom Cleverley may have added esteemed experience and know-how to his ranks in the form of both Angelo Ogbona and Moussa Sissoko during the summer. However, Watford still have an exciting batch of promising, upcoming young talents who could just net the club handsome profits and sums in the years to come, including Vata of course.

Away from the dazzling winger, Watford have another young and promising wide option in Kwadwo Baah, who, at 21, is finally breaking through in senior football and recently scored the winner in his side's 2-1 win over Middlesbrough.

Watford are future-proofing their backline too, with the dual emergences of both Ryan Andrews and James Morris in recent seasons providing a sense of youthfulness to Cleverley's defensive options.

20-year-old right-back Andrews, who is a product of the Hornets' academy, played 40 times in the Championship last year while ex-Southampton youth prospect Morris has been a dependable option for a couple of seasons now, with his positional flexibility allowing him to play on the other side or as a central defender in Cleverley's five-at-the-back system.

All of this means that Watford supporters, who have held rightful uncertainty about the club's direction in recent times, should be able to at least take solace from the emergence of youthful quality at Vicarage Road, and Vata may just be the pick of the bunch.