Watford backed to secure "substantial" transfer fee for £32.5k-a-week star - he is "pushing for a move" | OneFootball

FLW's Watford fan pundit has given his reaction to reports that midfielder Imran Louza is keen to leave the club this 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...

Watford will be hoping to challenge for promotion in the Championship next season under new head coach Paulo Pezzolano, but they are facing the threat of losing one of their key players before the end of the summer window.

After a disappointing second half of the campaign that saw their play-off push collapse, Watford finished 14th in the Championship last season, and they made the decision to part company with popular head coach Tom Cleverley in May, replacing him with Pezzolano.

Pezzolano's appointment appears to have marked the start of owner Gino Pozzo becoming more engaged with the Hornets, and in a statement released after Cleverley's sacking, the Italian insisted that the club would do "everything in our power to keep those more experienced players in our squad to help the younger members in their development".

However, according to the Watford Observer, midfielder Imran Louza has informed the club that he is keen to leave Vicarage Road this summer, and The Sun claim that the 26-year-old has handed in a transfer request after falling out with Pezzolano.

Louza joined Watford from Nantes in the summer of 2021 for a fee of £9 million, and it looked as though his days at the club were numbered after he spent the second half of the 2023-24 campaign on loan at Lorient, but he starred after being brought back into the fold last season by Cleverley, winning the Player of the Season award.

When asked for his thoughts on the reports that Louza is looking for an exit, FLW's Watford fan pundit, Justin Beattie, said that he would be disappointed to lose the midfielder, but while he admitted he was unsure about the exact transfer fee the Hornets could command, he predicted that they could receive a substantial sum for their wantaway star.

"If you wind the clocks back a season to this time last year, I think most fans wouldn't have felt much of a sense of frustration at the thought of Imran Louza moving on," Justin told FLW.

"However, he had a very good second half of the last campaign and won Player of the Season. I think the hope was that he would continue that form into next season and be one of our key players.

"I believe he's contracted to the club until 2028, so this would suggest more of a player pushing for a move, rather than the club looking to move him on. It would indicate that he is the one pushing for a transfer.

"I think that most Watford fans will be disappointed at this because the owners have said that they would ideally like to keep our most senior players in order to push on for potential promotion next season, and Imran would be key to that.

"In terms of a transfer fee, I have absolutely no idea what figure to put on him. I guess, if he's still got a couple of seasons left on his contract, the price will be fairly substantial.

"I wouldn't like to put an exact figure on it because my estimates are usually wrong."

Big Imran Louza windfall could help to ease Watford frustration

After his impressive form last season, the news that Louza is pushing to leave the club is a big blow for Watford, and the fact that it is due to a dispute with Pezzolano is a little alarming so early into the 42-year-old's tenure at Vicarage Road.

While Louza has not always performed consistently for the Hornets, he was an increasingly influential figure last season and one of their main creative sparks, and he also wore the captain's armband on a number of occasions, so he will undoubtedly be a huge loss.

However, The Sun report that Louza could now be worth as much as £12 million, and if Watford were able to secure a figure in that region, they would be able to spend the money on a replacement for the Morocco international, even though it will be tough to find a player of similar quality.

Or they could look to spread that sum of money across the playing squad, and really enable Pezzolano to stamp his authority on his Watford side.

The central midfielder is also understood to be earning £32,500-a-week at Vicarage Road (per Capology), and so getting him off the wage bill could also free up some additional flexibility for the club in the transfer market, or simply enable them to save a significant amount of money.