Opinion: Watford are set to sign 31-year-old and it’s a smart addition, here is why | OneFootball

Watford are set to complete the signing of free agent Leandro Bacuna on a deal until the end of the season, according to the Watford Observer.

The 31-year-old is not the same player he once was at Aston Villa, but in his versatility and flair he could prove to be a very smart pick-up in the Championship promotion race.

Bacuna has been unattached since leaving Cardiff City in the summer, various trial periods have likely been carried out in the period of time since, but on the cusp of the January transfer window the Hornets look set to bolster their squad with his services.

Across the course of his career, Bacuna has played in every single position on a football pitch, apart from goalkeeper, and with the Championship’s hectic schedule set to hurt teams fitness-wise at some stage, adding someone of his capabilities has to be seen as a positive.

This is not the kind of signing to lift the Watford supporter base and ignite belief that they will finish in the top two this season, but it is time to trust Slaven Bilic’s judgment given his experience managing at the top level and getting out of the Championship.

Bacuna, the brother of Birmingham City’s Juninho, was a key part of the Cardiff City side that finished in the play-offs in 2019/20, an achievement that the Bluebirds have not come very close to replicating since.

The Curacao international is most specialist as a wide or attacking midfielder, which should help the Hornets who have a number of wide and forward players yet to acclimatise to English football.

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Bacuna is dangerous from set pieces and could provide an option in the final third while Ismaila Sarr is still easing his way back into the side after an excellent World Cup with Senegal.

Imran Louza, Tom Cleverley and Dan Gosling are expected to be out for the next couple of months or so, which will likely see the Hornets stretched in central midfield areas over the busy Christmas period, while Hamza Choudhury and Edo Kayembe have been fairly inconsistent in their performance levels.

Adding someone with knowhow at the level, and the one above, who should be physically robust enough to offer some regular availability, despite being unattached for so long, will help Bilic enormously.

Bacuna will not be a regular starter or key player in Watford’s promotion push, but there is an argument that he raises their floor.