Opinion: After recent Watford performances, Slaven Bilic should consider a start for rarely seen 25-year-old | OneFootball

When the January transfer window arrived earlier this year, Watford knew they had to act and bring players in quickly.

The Hornets were in a relegation scrap after a dismal first half of the season upon their return to the Premier League, and there were clear gaps in the squad that needed to be filled.

In came Hassane Kamara at left-back for example, who went on to win the club’s player of the season award. Brazilian defender Samir arrived to fill a troublesome position at centre-back, and Edo Kayembe came in to try and add solidity to a weak midfield.

All three went on to play fairly regularly for the club as they were eventually relegated, but the same could not be said for another of the Hornets January additions – Samuel Kalu.

Kalu arrived at the back end of January from then Ligue 1 side Bordeaux, having made a combined 104 appearances across the top flights in France and Belgium.

Despite that, he never had any impact whatsoever on the club’s relegation, going on to play just 221 minutes of action for the Hornets as they were relegated back to the Championship.

Many speculated that he may leave the club in the summer after appearing so infrequently, and this was further compounded when Kalu was nowhere to be seen at the start of this season.

It soon transpired, though, that the 25-year-old was simply injured.

Indeed, the 17 cap Nigerian international returned midway through last month as a one minute substitute against Norwich City for his first outing of the campaign, however, since then, Kalu has produced multiple cameos off the bench that not only show he can be a valuable member of this Hornets squad, but potentially, a starter, too.

The 25-year-old’s first impressive showing came away at Millwall, subbed on at half-time with the Hornets 3-0 down and having been convincingly beaten throughout the first half.

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Yet, Kalu, when he came onto the pitch, was a breath of fresh air, not frightened to get on the ball and run at Millwall’s defenders. His cameo a rare positive on an otherwise dreadful night.

It was more of the same when he was introduced at Wigan away at the back end of October, too.

With Watford chasing the game, Kalu came on and once again had a positive impact, with his introduction helping to pin back Wigan’s defence, and eventually help Watford win the match.

And, of course, most recently, last night against Reading, Kalu made a third very successful cameo off the bench.

Coming on with 24 minutes left to play and with Reading pushing for an equaliser, Kalu’s willingness to receive the ball and be direct in his dribbling was on show once again, and his introduction appeared to coincide with Watford regaining momentum in the fixture.

Kalu could have found himself with two assists to his name come full time, setting up Joao Pedro for a strike that went just wide, and Ismaila Sarr for his chipped effort at goal from a tight angle.

When Watford did eventually equalise, it came after Sarr’s cross to find the run of Kalu was cleared, falling to Joao Pedro to strike home and secure all three points.

It just felt like after his introduction, Kalu was involved in everything good the Hornets did, and combining that with his recent showings, he has shown at the very least he can be a valuable asset for the Hornets this season.

Indeed, with very little rotation in the Hornets attack so far this season, Kalu has surely given boss Slaven Bilic food for thought and put himself in contention for a starting role not only ahead of this weekend’s clash with Bristol City, but for the rest of the season.