Watford set to sign midfielder in €2.5m deal | OneFootball

Watford have turned Georgian midfielder Giorgi Chakvetadze's stay at Vicarage Road into a permanent move.

That is according to reports in Belgium, via HNL, which claim that the Hornets have reached a deal with KAA Gent to turn the Georgian's loan spell into a temporary switch.

Watford set to sign Chakvetadze permanently

HNL (01/02, 09:51) report that the Belgian side are set to receive a fee of 2.5 million euros for Chakvetadze.

We must not forget that this was a fee likely agreed in the summer, with Watford announcing back in August that they had an option to turn Chakvetadze's loan spell into a permanent one when announcing his arrival at the club.

Watford take the above action after half a season of having Chakvetadze within their ranks, and it is understandable that the Hornets would want to keep him around.

Despite not always being a regular starter earlier in the campaign, never once did Chakvetadze complain, and, in recent weeks, when the player has started to play more and more minutes, he has impressed.

In total, for example, the 24-year-old has made 23 Championship appearances this season, with a further two outings in the FA Cuo

Both of those cup matches were starts, and, his last five league matches were also starts, too.

For context, prior to starting the first of those last five, Chakvetadze had started just twice before this season.

The 24-year-old seems to be becoming an increasingly important figure under Valerien Ismael, offering great ability and versatility, able to play in central midfield, or out on the flanks.

If the above reports prove accurate, it would technically be Watford's second signing of the January transfer window, and their fourth bit of business overall.

Indeed, generally, it has been a rather quiet few weeks at Vicarage Road.

Moroccan midfielder Imran Louza was the first to head for the exit door, departing for Ligue 1 outfit FC Lorient on loan for the remainder of the season.

Louza was then followed out of the door by Rhys Healey, who joined Championship strugglers Huddersfield Town on a permanent basis.

Of course, in terms of incomings, there was a big name arrival in some respects, with Emmanuel Dennis re-joining the club on a loan deal from Nottingham Forest until the end of the campaign.

It seems as though a move for Chakvetadze may be the last bit of business for the club this month, though, with Ismael suggesting he is generally happy with his squad at this stage.

"Anything can happen but I am very pleased with our squad,” said Valerien Ismael ahead of the club's midweek tie away at Sheffield Wednesday, via the Watford Observer.

“We have got players back and others like Kayembe and Ngakia are very close.

“At the minute we have almost everybody available and I am very pleased with the squad, but we also know where we want to improve it.

“It has to be the right player though. “If it is the right player then we will do it, if it isn’t the right player then we don’t need to do anything as I am very happy with the squad. “We have seen that every time we have put players on the pitch it hasn’t affected the performance of the team. “We played our last two league games without five regular starters and still the performance was really good.

“Everyone understands we count on them, and that everyone is part of the process.”

Watford's next fixture

Up next for Watford is a home match in the Championship, with the Hornets set to host Cardiff City at Vicarage Road on Saturday afternoon.