“The offer was nowhere near good enough” – Watford involved in late transfer deadline day drama with Everton: The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Watford rejected a late move from Everton to bring Ismaila Sarr to Goodison Park, it emerged late last night.

As per The Athletic, the Hornets rejected a late loan with a conditional obligation to buy deal for the 24-year-old.

Indeed, Everton are reported to have made an offer of £2 million to take the Senegalese international on loan for the rest of the season, with an obligation to buy him for £30 million if Everton were to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

Sarr’s performances for the Hornets have come in for some criticism of late, but despite that, he has seven goals and four assists to his name for the club this season.

The 24-year-old has just 18 months remaining on his current deal at Vicarage Road.

With the above in mind, we asked three of our FLW writers for their thoughts on Everton’s bid and whether or not Watford were right to reject the deal.

Simmey Hannifin-Donaldson

I think Watford very much made the right decision to reject Everton’s late advance for Ismaila Sarr.

In my opinion, the offer was nowhere near good enough to tempt the Hornets to sell, even despite the reported £30 million obligation to buy.

Sure, a £30 million fee in the summer would have been great, but the fact it was conditional upon Everton’s Premier League survival, which isn’t guaranteed, made it too much of a risk.

Had Everton came in with a straight up offer of £30 million for his permanent signature this month, I genuinely think the club would have sold given his performances of late, but with just a £2 million loan fee guaranteed, it made no sense to sanction this move from a  Watford perspective.

Now, Slaven Bilic must ensure he gets the best out of the Senegalese winger for the remainder of the campaign as the Hornets look to secure a play-off spot.

Sarr has still managed to be productive so far this season despite criticism of his performances, but the biggest difference between now and 2020/21, when the Hornets last won promotion, is that at his best, that season, he would dominate and be a handful for 90 minutes, whereas this campaign, his talent has only been shown in moments.

Indeed, there is certainly more to come from the 24-year-old.

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Toby Wilding

This does feel like the right stance for Watford to take in response to interest in Sarr from Everton.

Ultimately, the amount they could receive from winning promotion this season, will be a lot more than they would get from the one-off sale of the attacker to the Goodison Park club.

With that in mind, you feel they have made the right decision to keep hold of Sarr, since he is a player that is going to be key to any chance the Hornets have of securing a return to the Premier League in the next few months.

Indeed, his contract situation also means that Watford can still cash in on him further down the line if things do not work out, so they have not risked losing out too much here, meaning this looks like a sensible decision for them to have made.

Sam Rourke

Watford 100% made the right decision here.

Sarr is an integral player at Watford and will play a pivotal role in their pursuit of promotion from the Championship this season so to let him go so late on in the window would have been a hammer blow.

If Everton had offered a fee of £30m up-front without the loan first then it’s potentially a more attractive offer but ultimately Sarr is just too important to the Hornets.

If Slaven Bilic can get the best out of the winger for the remainder of the campaign then their chance of cementing themselves in the second tier’s play-offs is heightened significantly.