Hamza Choudhury joins Watford

[Stadt]

I think he'll be fine in the Championship where he'll have more time on the ball. He's funny player because he's better suited to being aggressive so he's absolutely not a holding midfielder. At the same time he can't pass either so playing further forward doesn't work for him.

[LCCFox96]

1 minute ago, Ricey said:

Can't quite work this out. Why voluntarily add another year on to a £60k p/w contract?

 

Sensible business imo.

We get circa £30k off the wage bill this season which leaves us £1.5mil better off from the word go.

 

We've then also afforded ourselves the opportunity to secure a fee next summer (or even January) should he do well. So we've protected ourselves on losing a potential asset for free. Hopefully Hamza smashes it and that approach pays dividends for us.

 

Good luck Hamza, wish him well! Good move for the player and potentially good for us financially down the line. 

[Shane]

1 minute ago, Ricey said:

Can't quite work this out. Why voluntarily add another year on to a £60k p/w contract?

He will do very well in the Championship and attract some interest I reckon.

 

If Watford can’t afford to trigger the option to buy, another club might come in for him and we could get a decent fee.

[Dames]

3 minutes ago, Ricey said:

Can't quite work this out. Why voluntarily add another year on to a £60k p/w contract?

If this backfires then that will be one mistake too many for Rudkin considering how badly this summer has gone.

[Ricey]

Just now, LCCFox96 said:

 

Sensible business imo.

We get circa £30k off the wage bill this season which leaves us £1.5mil better off from the word go.

 

We've then also afforded ourselves the opportunity to secure a fee next summer (or even January) should he do well. So we've protected ourselves on losing a potential asset for free. Hopefully Hamza smashes it and that approach pays dividends for us.

 

Good luck Hamza, wish him well! Good move for the player and potentially good for us financially down the line. 

...or he doesn't smash it or he gets injured and we are stuck with a player we don't want on huge wages for a further year.

[Foxxed]

After his initial breakthrough he never got too much time to kick on. I hope he impresses and gets the time to improve. I'll definitely be watching the odd Watford match.

[RowlattsFox]

It's 2024 and Hamza Choudhury is still here because noone wants to buy him. I know there is still a chance we can get £10m if he does well this year but seems an unnecessary risk to take IMO. 

[LVFox]

Good loan for Hamza, and nice for us to get one out the door.

 

Really hope he does well, would love to see him get a good run of games and flourish. Expect him to do that in the championship 

[LCCFox96]

Just now, Ricey said:

...or he doesn't smash it or he gets injured and we are stuck with a player we don't want on huge wages for a further year.

 

It's a gamble, but the club will likely have assessed and feel he's playing at a level he can excel at. I imagine the buyout fee won't be extortionate either so appealing to Watford. Injury is risk for any player on any deal so that's moot anyway.

 

I wouldn't want us to take this approach with other players - Hamza's value has the potential to rise due to his age and unfounded potential vs someone like Vestergaard that we're looking to shift. In this isolated case it makes sense imo.

[Dames]

1 minute ago, Ricey said:

...or he doesn't smash it or he gets injured and we are stuck with a player we don't want on huge wages for a further year.

Or Watford don't get promoted and can't afford his wages and no other team wants to take a gamble on a 60k pw player who spent the last season playing in the Championship.

 

Lots of risk associated with this move. 

[Fox in the North]

Good luck Hamza! Always loved a lad from Loughborough representing the City!

[Guest Col city fan]

Thank fook for that.

He’ll be fine there.

I’m assuming this frees up 60k per week?

[honeybradger]

I think he's a much better player than most on here make out. He's not starting quality for a side with top 7 aspirations but he's Prem standard imo, will look like a quality player in the championship.

[Foxxed]

2 minutes ago, Col city fan said:

Thank fook for that.

He’ll be fine there.

I’m assuming this frees up 60k per week?

I'm lazily regurgitating something I read on this forum: 30k.

[HankMarvin]

9 minutes ago, LCCFox96 said:

 

Sensible business imo.

We get circa £30k off the wage bill this season which leaves us £1.5mil better off from the word go.

 

We've then also afforded ourselves the opportunity to secure a fee next summer (or even January) should he do well. So we've protected ourselves on losing a potential asset for free. Hopefully Hamza smashes it and that approach pays dividends for us.

 

Good luck Hamza, wish him well! Good move for the player and potentially good for us financially down the line. 

Then adds another 3m next season if he doesn’t get sold because his wages are too high.

so saved 1.5m this year

potentially added 3m next season 

[Webbo]

Assuming we're  paying half his wages and if he's on 60k a week,then that's 30k a week saved. Add that to kaspers 130 k a week,that makes 160k a week. 2 out should give us room to bring  at least 1 in.

[HankMarvin]

4 minutes ago, honeybradger said:

I think he's a much better player than most on here make out. He's not starting quality for a side with top 7 aspirations but he's Prem standard imo, will look like a quality player in the championship.

Struggled at Burton in the championship 

before Puel gave him his debut, 13 apps from a second loan period there. 
Obviously he is older now, and has made about 10 appearances per year since he made his debut here. So needs a long consistent run of first team football for anyone to determine how good he actually is.

[LCCFox96]

11 minutes ago, HankMarvin said:

Then adds another 3m next season if he doesn’t get sold because his wages are too high.

so saved 1.5m this year

potentially added 3m next season 

 

That's not strictly true though is it? We wouldn't just do nothing if it didn't work out at Watford. If Watford don't take their option to buy and another club doesn't come in, we'd likely do another split wage, no fee loan deal to save costs.

 

We've essentially spread the financial burden over 2 years and given ourselves the option to recoup a fee that we wouldn't have had without the extension:

 

22/23 season - 50:50 wages with Watford so circa £30k pw / £1.5mil saved and the option to secure a fee in what  - on paper - is a promising loan move for the player at the right level

23/24 season - if it doesn't work out do something roughly similar again as unless Hamza utterly tanks he'll still have another suitor willing to take a punt as he's always had interest. Again we would save circa £30k pw / £1.5mil which works out at the same outlay saved over 2 years as the value of his one year extension.

 

That versus the below feels appealing:

 

22/23 season - 50:50 wages saving £30k pw / £1.5mil with no upside to it if he does well as he walks for nothing gives us very little potential upside.

 

Yes, Hamza has to do well, avoid injury etc etc, but it gives us some potential win within the deal all for roughly the same value of his 1-year contract had he just rode that out on our bench. I'd say it's a calculated risk. Operating off guesswork on what we think we know from the media in the above though.

 

Either way, positive to see some bloody movement at last! Good luck Hamza!

Edited 10 August 2022 by LCCFox96

[Hales]

Good luck Hamza, hope he does well. I'm glad he has moved on but he has always seemed a nice guy. I always liked the way he waited and greeted every single player off of the pitch.  

 

[adam]

Thats mental that we have extended his contract. So if he has a bad year we are stuck with him for another 2 years on 60k a week.  

The bloke will probably get found out In the championship. 

[BenTheFox]

4 minutes ago, adam said:

Thats mental that we have extended his contract. So if he has a bad year we are stuck with him for another 2 years on 60k a week.  

The bloke will probably get found out In the championship. 

He's not THAT bad. 

[Sol thewall Bamba]

11 minutes ago, adam said:

Thats mental that we have extended his contract. So if he has a bad year we are stuck with him for another 2 years on 60k a week.  

The bloke will probably get found out In the championship. 

So you think he's League 1 standard at best if he's going to be "found out" in the Championship?

[HankMarvin]

9 minutes ago, LCCFox96 said:

 

That's not strictly true though is it? We wouldn't just do nothing if it didn't work out at Watford. If Watford don't take their option to buy and another club doesn't come in, we'd likely do another split wage, no fee loan deal to save costs.

 

We've essentially spread the financial burden over 2 years and given ourselves the option to recoup a fee that we wouldn't have had without the extension:

 

22/23 season - 50:50 wages with Watford so circa £30k pw / £1.5mil saved and the option to secure a fee in what  - on paper - is a promising loan move for the player at the right level

23/24 season - if it doesn't work out do something roughly similar again as unless Hamza utterly tanks he'll still have another suitor willing to take a punt as he's always had interest. Again we would save circa £30k pw / £1.5mil which works out at the same outlay saved over 2 years as the value of his one year extension.

 

That versus the below feels appealing:

 

22/23 season - 50:50 wages saving £30k pw / £1.5mil with no upside to it if he does well as he walks for nothing gives us very little potential upside.

 

Yes, Hamza has to do well, avoid injury etc etc, but it gives us some potential win within the deal all for roughly the same value of his 1-year contract had he just rode that out on our bench. I'd say it's a calculated risk. Operating off guesswork on what we think we know from the media in the above though.

 

Either way, positive to see some bloody movement at last! Good luck Hamza!

In normal circumstances, not when the club is meant to be bloated and the wage to turnover is appalling.

We have been told it’s not about transfer money, in which case getting rid of a player with 12 months to go of his contract for 50% of his wage would’ve been a good idea.

Arsenal had to pay off a lot of their deadweight to leave, on the upside we have just extended in the hope of getting what 5m? for a player in the final year of his contract next season.

Downside he get injured, or has a crap season as bit part player and his stock falls and no takers on £30k next season.

Back to see final season out on £60k

[SkidsFox]

30 minutes ago, Stadt said:

I think he'll be fine in the Championship where he'll have more time on the ball. He's funny player because he's better suited to being aggressive so he's absolutely not a holding midfielder. At the same time he can't pass either so playing further forward doesn't work for him.

I always find it strange that some players at this level "can't pass". I know we can't expect every player to dribble like Messi, or score like Vardy, but being unable to pass seems to be a big barrier (to me) to being a Premier league footballer.

[LCCFox96]

14 minutes ago, adam said:

Thats mental that we have extended his contract. So if he has a bad year we are stuck with him for another 2 years on 60k a week.  

The bloke will probably get found out In the championship. 

 

He's extended until 2024 according to the tweet. So 1 year until 2023 that he already had, and 1 additional year at £60k per week, not 2 years additional.

Edited 10 August 2022 by LCCFox96