Watford loan deal could be a blow for QPR, Juventus transfer plans: View | OneFootball

The Hornets could hurt their Championship rivals' transfer hopes

Watford are at the start of another new managerial era as they prepare for the start of the 2024/25 campaign.

Following his appointment to replace Valerien Ismael in the Vicarage Road dugout towards the end of last season, Tom Cleverley is now preparing for his first full campaign in charge of the club.

He will no doubt want to have as strong a squad as possible available to him, if he is to improve on an underwhelming 15th place finish in the Championship from last season.

So far this summer, the Hornets have added four new players to their first-team squad ahead of the new campaign.

Now it seems as though Watford are closing in on another addition for Cleverley's squad, as we enter the final month of the window.

Yasser Larouci lined up for Watford loan move

According to recent reports from The Athletic, the Vicarage Road club are in advanced talks to sign Yasser Larouci from French side Troyes.

The left-back is apparently in line to spent the 2024/25 campaign on loan with Cleverley's side, in what will not be his first stint in English football.

Formerly a Liverpool youth prospect, the 23-year-old also spent last season on loan at Sheffield United, as the Blades were relegated from the Premier League.

He, now, though, looks set to spent the coming campaign in the Championship with Watford, where he can provide cover and competition for James Morris on the left-hand side of defence.

Should that prove to be the case, it could be argued that it will be bad news for the transfer plans of another English second-tier club, in the form of QPR.

QPR may be at risk of missing out on Juventus player

According to a recent report from Gianluca Di Marzio, QPR are close to agreeing the signing of left-back Gianluca Frabotta from Juventus.

However, it is suggested that if the Loftus Road club are to complete the signing of the 25-year-old, they will first have to move on to another option in that position, in Kenneth Paal.

That is where the news that Watford are closing in on a deal for Larouci, could be bad news for Marti Cifuentes' side.

Over the course of this summer, it had been reported that the Hornets themselves were interested in the signing of Paal from their Championship rivals.

Completing that deal would consequently seemingly have opened the door for QPR to secure the services of Frabotta from Juventus.

However, in that respect, things may now have changed, given the fact that Watford now appear to be closing in on the signing of Larouci.

If they are able to complete a deal for the left-back from Troyes to give them the depth they need in that position alongside Morris, they may not feel they need to pursue another option in that role.

In turn, that could therefore bring an end to their interest in Paal, putting his own departure from Loftus Road on hold for the time being.

Given what has been suggested about their own attempts to secure the services of Frabotta, that would likely mean they too would have to wait to complete a deal for the Juventus man.

That would then leave them having to find another potential destination for Paal, and it remains to be seen if they will be able to do that.

In the meantime, there would then be a risk of another club coming in to seal a deal for the signing of Frabotta themselves, which could then see the R's miss out on their target.