With the Premier League season set to kick off in less than one month, clubs are continuing to scramble to create their ideal squads. Watford’s transfer tactic has primarily consisted of buying first and offloading players second, but several departures are imminent. One such player who may find themselves exiting Vicarage Road is former record-signing Andre Gray.
Andre Gray Has an Unclear Watford Future
Underwhelmed Since Arrival
A prolific 2014/15 season with Brentford earned Gray a transfer to Burnley for the following season. In the second tier, during that campaign, he won the Golden Boot with 25 goals and the Championship Player of the Year award. Gray’s nine-goal Premier League season the following year earned him an £18.5 million move to Watford.
His first season at Vicarage Road was underwhelming, scoring just five times in 31 appearances. The 2018/19 season was his most successful in a Hornets’ shirt. Seven Premier League goals, with multiple being off-the-bench winners, two FA Cup goals – one sending Watford to the semi-finals – and an FA Cup semi-final assist made the fee Watford paid for him seem closer to justifiable.
With Troy Deeney sidelined due to knee surgery for the start of the 2019/20 campaign, Gray was in line to play a big role. In 23 appearances, however, he scored just twice. The club’s relegation to the Championship meant there were high hopes for the 30-year-old, who had been the league’s most prolific scorer five seasons prior. Unfortunately, Gray only scored five goals in 30 appearances.
New Signings Suggest Andre Gray Has Lost His Spot
Even though Gray has had his moments of quality, primarily during the 2018/19 season, the club have not received the prolific striker they wanted from spending £18.5 million. Upon their return to the Premier League, the Hornets have wasted no time in signing a plethora of attacking talent.
Joshua King, Ashley Fletcher and Emmanuel Dennis are all new signings who have primarily played in attacking roles. King is a proven Premier League goal-scorer; Dennis has the potential to be based on his impressive time in Belgium, while Fletcher was brought in to freshen up the Hornets’ depth, a category Gray himself has fallen into. Cucho Hernandez also has returned from loan and is training with the first-team.
With Joao Pedro and Deeney also set to be at Vicarage Road next season, Gray finds himself as potentially the club’s seventh-choice striker. As a result, Gray staying at Vicarage Road now appears to make little sense. After the new signings, his place in the squad is very likely occupied and surpassed by many others.
Absent From Pre-season Training
Gray is currently partaking in the CONCACAF Gold Cup with Jamaica. The tournament ends on August 1, meaning he will have missed nearly the entirety of pre-season. The new legs will be freshly introduced and integrated into Xisco Munoz’s system by the time the 30-year-old returns.
With so many new heads, the stars have aligned for Gray to try and reignite his career elsewhere.
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