Watford player completes surprise overseas transfer following Huddersfield Town stint | OneFootball

Watford may not have gone full rebuild mode yet under new head coach Valerien Ismael as they plot a way to get back to the Premier League in the next year, but they are clearing the decks in order to streamline the squad.

Ismael has added both Tom Ince and Rhys Healey to his attacking unit ahead of the new season but plenty of faces have departed Vicarage Road in recent months, including the experience of Craig Cathcart and Tom Cleverley - the latter who has retired from football.

Domingos Quina, William Troost-Ekong and Mario Gaspar, along with the sale of Joao Pedro to Brighton for big money are further deals that have been done, and perhaps surprisingly a few youngsters who could have made an impact in the first-team this year have also moved on.

Adrian Blake joined Dutch outfit Utrecht after turning down a new professional deal with the Hornets, and now the latest player to exit the Hertfordshire club is Joseph Hungbo.

What are the details of Joseph Hungbo's Watford departure?

Winger Hungbo has exited on a permanent basis, with a move to German second tier outfit Nurnberg confirmed.

Watford have not described any sort of fee in the deal, although you would expect it to be undisclosed in this day and age.

Hungbo did however sign a new long-term contract with the Hornets back in August 2021 before heading out on loan to Ross County of Scotland, so there were once high hopes for the attacker.

However, the club have now opted to let the 23-year-old move on to pastures new despite having one year remaining on his contract.

How did Joseph Hungbo perform last season?

Before the 2022-23 campaign, Hungbo had played just eight times for Watford, with five of those coming in the Championship in the 2020-21 season with a loan spell at Ross County in 2021-22 proving rather fruitful for the left footer.

Hungbo wasn't given too much of a chance though with the Hornets in the first half of the 2022-23 season as he was handed just three brief league cameos under Rob Edwards and then a further three outings by Slaven Bilic, although the Croat did give Hungbo a start against Hull City.

Following a start against Reading in the FA Cup in January, the decision was made to loan Hungbo out to Championship rivals Huddersfield Town, who were involved in a relegation dogfight at the time.

Hungbo ended up working for a different manager than intended after arriving under Mark Fotheringham's management, but he was replaced by Neil Warnock shortly after and he flourished under the veteran.

Scoring three goals in his 14 appearances for the Terriers, Hungbo didn't always start but he made an impact whether he was playing on the right flank or through the middle as a striker.

It was therefore a surprise that Huddersfield did not swoop for his services this summer on a permanent basis, but their loss is Nurnberg's gain as they have managed to bring the explosive attacker to continential Europe.