Watford duo set to depart Vicarage Road | OneFootball

Watford pair Britt Assombalonga and Leandro Bacuna are set to depart Vicarage Road on the expiration of their contracts this summer, according to Darren Witcoop.

The Hornets could potentially be set for a revamp this summer with Joao Pedro already departing the club to join Brighton and Hove Albion, with his sale reportedly generating the club around £30m.

Ismaila Sarr may also attract interest from elsewhere following his contributions for club and country during the 2022/23 campaign, even managing to get himself on the scoresheet in the World Cup and coming close to scoring against England in the round of 16.

Some have cited the Horntes' recruitment as one of their biggest problems last season with several additions failing to live up to expectations - and it looks as though two of these signings will be on their way out.

How have Britt Assombalonga and Leandro Bacuna performed at Watford?

Considering how prolific he used to be in the Championship, Assombolonga may be disappointed that he wasn't able to get himself on the scoresheet more often.

Scoring twice in 11 appearances, that isn't exactly a horrific total and in fairness to him, he did come to the club midway through the season.

That meant he had to adjust to life at Vicarage Road very quickly, but he probably needed to make more of an impact to earn himself a new contract.

Bacuna, meanwhile, made 14 appearances and mainly operated in the middle of the park. His versatility could have been useful for the club - but his impact has been limited.

Are Watford making the right calls?

These are two players that could be offloaded quite easily and that's why Valerien Ismael's side are perhaps wise to offload them.

However, Bacuna could have been useful for Ismael, both in the middle of the park and at right wing-back. Ismael suffered at West Brom due to a lack of midfield options - and having the ex-Aston Villa man there as a potential backup may have been ideal.

But the club needs to be refreshed with some new faces and the departures of these two could create space for a couple of signings to arrive.

It would be hard to see Assombalonga and Bacuna earning too much - but they are likely to have been earning a reasonably decent wage and the club should probably devote that money elsewhere.