Watford Face Cruzeiro Competition For Defender | OneFootball

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Watford face new competition for Bournemouth’s Julio Soler with Brazilian outfit Cruzeiro interested in taking him to South America.

Javi Gracia’s side are in a good vein of form in the Championship, and sit only a single point below Wrexham, who are sixth.

Former Championship striker Sam Parkin insisted in December that Watford’s young side have an ‘outside chance’ of making the playoffs, and the Hornets seem intent on doing their utmost to achieve that.

Watford have looked to back Gracia in the window, to keep pace with so many of the Championship sides who are recruiting heavily in January, and Edoardo Bove has been signed on a free transfer from Roma.

They have also been on the hunt for a left-back and Bournemouth’s Julio Soler has been one on their radar since the window opened.

It has now emerged that they will face competition for Soler from Cruzeiro, according to Brazilian outlet Torcedores.

While Watford are hoping to sign Soler on loan, Cruzeiro see the Argentine as a long-term solution.

Cruzeiro’s starting left-back Kaiki has been on the radar of multiple European clubs, while Serie A side Como have already taken concrete steps to negotiate a deal, with Cruzeiro said to be demanding a fee in the region of €15m.

They are also in advanced negotiations to sell their 17-year-old back up left-back Kaua Prates to Borussia Dortmund for a reported fee of around €12m.

With the propositions from Watford and Cruzeiro being different for both Soler and Bournemouth, it is still unclear if either party favours one over the other.

In addition to the two clubs, Dutch giants Ajax were also said to be in talks with Soler before Watford’s interest.

Gracia will not want to get too sidetracked by transfer dealings, with his side already possessing a ‘pretty mouth-watering’ striking pair.

Watford take on Swansea City next at Vicarage Road, a game in which Gracia will be hoping to pick up three points from after going four games without a win.