Watford in talks to sign Premier League defender | OneFootball

Watford are in talks with Southampton regarding central defender Jack Stephens, it has emerged.

Rumours regarding the discussions first surfaced yesterday on Twitter, and today, The Athletic have reported that the Hornets are indeed in discussions regarding the centre-back.

As per their report, it is unclear at present what sort of deal Watford are looking to do, with a permanent switch, and a loan move with some sort of option or obligation to buy, both possible options at this stage.

Jack Stephens’ career began at Plymouth Argyle before being scooped up as a reserve player by Southampton back in 2011.

After a period in the youth set up at the St. Mary’s Stadium, Stephens would spend three consecutive seasons having spent time away from the club on loan.

That included two spells in League One with Swindon Town in 2013/14 and 2014/15 and spells with Middlesbrough in the Championship, and Coventry City in League One, both in 2015/16.

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Upon his return to Southampton, Stephens began to feature in the first team squad, making his Premier League debut in January 2017.

Since then, Stephens has taken his Saints’ appearance tally to 151 matches, with 122 of those having came in the Premier League.

The Verdict

This seems like it would be a good signing for Watford.

However, it would surely mean one of the Hornets current centre-back options is departing.

Even with the departure of Samir, who they reportedly plan to replace with a left-footed central defender and not Stephens, Watford are well stacked in the central defensive department.

The types of players the Hornets seem to be targeting this summer is bottom half Premier League players that aren’t perhaps getting an opportunity, with Watford able to provide regular game time and a potential route back to first team top-flight football.

It will be interesting to see how this one develops in the coming weeks.