Watford’s stance on Aston Villa loanee made clear ahead of transfer deadline | OneFootball

Watford do not plan to include Aston Villa loanee Kortney Hause in their 25-man squad for the remainder of the Championship season.

That is according to The Athletic, who report that the Hornets have made that point very clear to Aston Villa, with the two sides at an impasse over the future of the central defender.

Hause joined Watford on a season-long loan back in the summer, but has not featured for the club since September, with a dispute over the best course of action in his recovery reportedly arising following an injury in October.

That has left the Hornets wanting to cut the loan deal short this month, however, the initial deal included no such break clause, and Aston Villa are seemingly hesitant to take back their player.

Hornets boss Slaven Bilic recently discussed the defender’s situation.

“There has been a bit of a difference of opinions about his treatment,” Bilic explained, via The Athletic.

“He wants surgery. Nobody else was in favour of surgery. And it has been like that for three months.

“I’m gutted for him and for us. He is also gutted about this, don’t get me wrong.

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“He was going to be one of our main men who would help us go back to the Premier League, and I haven’t see him play at all.”

Now, Watford’s position on Hause has been made very clear to Aston Villa according to The Athletic.

Their report claims that the Hornets will not only not include Hause in their squad for the rest of the season, but that they are actively pursuing alternative left-sided centre-backs, which, if they arrive, will push Hause further to the fringes.

The Verdict

This certainly seems like a messy situation.

Clearly this is a transfer deal that has not worked out in the slightest for any party involved and you’d think the sooner it was put to an end, the better.

Hause is clearly not happy with his current situation, or at least his social media posts labelling himself as a ‘prisoner’ outlined in the Athletic article above would suggest as much.

And, Watford are not happy having a player unable to play matches taking up one of their loan slots.

The logical thing does seem for Aston Villa to take back their player, but given Watford committed to taking Hause financially in terms of paying part of his salary, you can understand why they’re reluctant to do so.