Report: Deal for Iborra’s replacement nearly done

A report originating with RMC Sport (following earlier rumors from Marca) say that a deal for Etienne Capoue is basically done. The 32 year old French midfielder would be a replacement for Vincente Iborra and would arrive on a 2.5 year deal.

To be honest... really honest... I don’t love the deal. If Capoue shows up and helps us get to the Champions League then I guess it all works out but bringing in another old defensive midfielder is a short sighted view at best. Watford are desperate to get back to the Premier League in England, and if Capoue was some sort of wonderful player don’t you think they’d hang on to him? He missed almost 20 matches due to back problems last year and has only played in eleven matches so far this season. As a man in his early 30s with back pain myself... I can only imagine how it will go if we rely on him every week.

I ran a smarterscout.com search on Capou and his numbers were okay, not great, in the Premier League last season- very bad ball retention numbers- and not even average so far this year in the Championship. I know we probably have a good working relationship with Watford after the Estupinan deal, and that is what has led to this.

Brining in Capoue would let us keep Kubo on board and not clear out a foreign player slot to make room for Santy Caseres. That’s a plus, I guess, but overall I just really don’t like this deal and would prefer we didn’t do it.