Watford ready to smash transfer record for Perotti
PREMIER League newcomers Watford are set to continue the re-shaping of their squad ahead of the new season after having a club record £7m bid for Argentina winger Diego Perotti accepted by Genoa yesterday.
The 26-year-old was a member of Sevilla’s 2014 Europa League-winning team before moving to the Serie A side 12 months ago, going on to score four goals in 27 matches. Genoa stand to make a huge profit on a player that only cost £250,000.
Perotti, who started his career at Boca Juniors before moving onto Deportivo Moron, won the first of his two international caps in November 2009 when replacing Barcelona’s Lionel Messi as Argentina lost to Spain in Madrid.
The £7m offered by the Vicarage Road outfit is more than double their current club record fee of £3.2m, which the Hornets paid West Brom for striker Nathan Ellington eight years ago. Watford appointed former Atletico Madrid manager Quique Sanchez Flores as their fifth boss in a year last month, and have already signed Lithuania goalkeeper Giedrius Arlauskis and Austria defender Sebastian Prodi during the close season.