"Much-needed" - Claim made on Yaser Asprilla's exit from Watford FC | OneFootball

We spoke to our resident Watford pundit to get his take on the highlight of their transfer window.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Since returning to the Championship in the 2022-23 season, Watford have suffered two mid-table finishes, with the club ending 11th and 15th respectively.

However, this season has brought a renewed sense of optimism, and their decent start to the campaign only strengthens the belief that they’ll be competing at the top end of the second tier come May.

Their transfer activity in the window, though not extravagant, has been shrewd, and these new signings could prove crucial to their ambitions of promotion.

Meanwhile, they have balanced this with several outgoings as Tom Cleverley looks to cut down his squad to the players that he believes can have the biggest impact.

This should set them up for a strong season then, and with the 35-year-old at the helm, Watford fans will believe anything is possible.

Sale of Yaser Asprilla backed by Watford pundit

With the transfer window slamming shut last Friday, we reached out to our resident Watford pundit, Justin Beattie, to get his insights on the Hornets' most significant deal of the window. Surprisingly, he chose an outgoing, with the Colombian winger Yaser Asprilla the name on his lips.

"The best bit of business we did in this window was probably selling Asprilla. He has brought in some money which, hopefully, we will put to one side for signing other players."

Having signed for Watford in January 2022, Asprilla had two strong years at Vicarage Road, becoming a firm fan favourite last season. His performances earned him a move to Girona earlier in the summer, with the Spanish side forking out £20 million for his services.

Adding on to his previous point, Beattie said: "Selling Wesley Hoedt was good business as well, because it was quite obvious that he wanted away. So, you don't really want players that are not going to be happy at the club.

"But the best bit was selling Yaser Asprilla, as he is a young talent who wanted to move on, and he brought in some much-needed funds.

Smart business from Watford

It is hard to disagree with Justin's selection for Watford's highlight of the window.

Whilst it would have been nice to keep Asprilla to boost their promotion hopes, financially cashing in on the 20-year-old made sense. £20 million plus add-ons cannot be sniffed at in the second tier, and it will aid the Hornets' bank balance significantly.

As well as this, we saw the sale of dynamic midfielder, Ismael Kone to Marseille. A guaranteed £15 million is another superb piece of business, given the Canadian only spent 18 months at Vicarage Road.

Whether this will be placed into player sales is currently unclear, but you would hope that Watford will once again use their wide-range scouting network to sign some more talented players.

With only minimal fees being spent in the summer window, you can imagine that the Hornets will be in line to make one big addition come January. An Asprilla replacement would be ideal, as they would be hard-pushed to replace such an influential figure within their current squad.

Cleverley will need to make do until then, but with nine points from their opening four fixtures, Watford fans can have confidence in the former Manchester United man's judgment.