Watford man set for January exit as transfer development shared | OneFootball

Watford are likely to let Vakoun Bayo leave the club on loan for the rest of the season as they close in on the signing of Britt Assombalonga.

It has been revealed today that Assombalonga has cancelled his contract with Adana Demirspor in Turkey by mutual consent, freeing him to join the Hornets on what will be a short-term deal at Vicarage Road.

And, the Watford Observer have confirmed that his arrival will have a knock-on effect as Bayo is expected to depart the club before the deadline on Tuesday night.

The former Celtic striker only joined in the summer and whilst he has made 24 appearances in the league, scoring four goals, many have been from the bench and it seems clear he isn’t a firm favourite of boss Slaven Bilic.

As well as that, the report explains how having homegrown players could be an issue, which is where Assombalonga will help, meaning Bayo could be one of those to miss out as Bilic looks to reshape his group for the run-in as Watford target a top six finish.

Start 2023 by testing your Watford knowledge – Can you score 16/16 on this quiz?

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Who scored Watford's first goal of this season?

Ismaila Sarr Joao Pedro Vakoun Issouf Bayo Tom Cleverley

The verdict

This wouldn’t be too much of a surprise as Assombalonga would provide good cover to the current options at Watford, knocking Bayo down the pecking order in the process.

So, for all parties it makes little sense for Bayo to stay if he isn’t going to play, with a loan allowing him to get the minutes he will want.

It appears it could be a busy few days ahead for Watford and it will be interesting to see what happens before 11pm on Tuesday.