Sunderland and Burnley may be on red alert as £4.3m Watford deal could have big implications | OneFootball

Watford could be set to lose Giorgi Chakvetadze after a sizeable investment in Pape Diallo.

Watford will be ramping up preparations as they enter a fourth consecutive Championship season.

The Hornets will be hoping for better fortunes under Paulo Pezzolano after a mediocre 14th-placed finish with Tom Cleverley, a position that led to the former Manchester United midfielder being relieved of his duties.

As Watford aim to build a squad good enough to compete towards the top end of the second tier, the club have brought four players into Vicarage Road, with Vivaldo Semedo, Hector Kyprianou, Nathan Baxter and Marc Bola all signing on the dotted line.

The club are also set to add a fifth addition to the list, with Metz attacker Pape Diallo closing in on a £4.3 million switch.

Such a sizeable investment suggests Diallo will have a significant role to play in the team, and that could spell the end for Georgian playmaker Giorgi Chakvetadze, as speculation rumbles on about his future this summer.

Watford close in on Pape Diallo addition

As per journalist Nizaar Kinsella on X, Watford are in advanced talks to sign Pape Diallo from Metz, with the reported fee believed to be £4.3 million.

His tweet revealed that the move is part of Hornets owner Pozzo’s push to get the club challenging for promotion.

He was introduced in the 2022-23 Ligue 2 season but played just once, but he would feature more prominently the season after in the French top-flight, making 16 appearances and scoring twice, with his first goal for the club coming against Monaco.

Relegation back down to the second tier followed that season, but Diallo managed to have his breakthrough term in the last campaign, registering seven goals and four assists from 28 games, playing a fundamental role in their achievement of reaching the relegation play-off and then defeating Reims to achieve promotion once again.

Pape Diallo should raise concerns over Giorgi Chakvetadze

The impending signing of Pape Diallo is a serious investment by the Watford hierarchy, who see the potential in the 21-year-old to be a big star in the Championship after emerging in France.

Spending that amount of money is sure to see Diallo play a big role in the Watford team, and with his preferred position being out wide on the left, that could be viewed as a replacement for Chakvetadze, who has flirted between playing on the flank and as a 10 in his time at Vicarage Road.

This could implicate that an exit for Chakvetadze is likely, with the 25-year-old recently being linked with a move to promoted duo Sunderland and Burnley.

Chakvetadze’s pace, direct running and ability to glide past players made him a menace in the second tier last term, with his two goals and six assists showcasing that he’s ready for the step-up to the top-flight.

Because of this, the Black Cats and Clarets should be alert to the situation, with the Georgian able to be a creative force that could give either side enough goals at the top end of the pitch to maintain their Premier League place beyond the next campaign.