Paulo Pezzolano’s first summer in charge of Watford has seen the Hornets lose a lot of experience and sign numerous young players, meaning they have one of the youngest squads in the Championship.
However, the Hertfordshire-based side have already recognised this issue, and they are on the verge of signing an experienced midfielder with good pedigree.
Watford Agree Deal To Sign Nampalys Mendy
The Hornets have agreed a deal to sign 33-year-old Senegalese midfielder Nampalys Mendy following the expiration of his contract at RC Lens, as per Fabrizio Romano.
Mendy is set to undergo his Watford medical on Wednesday before signing an initial one-year deal with an option to extend the contract by a further year.
The French-born man may be familiar to English football fans as he spent a considerable amount of time at Leicester City.
Mendy signed for the Foxes in the summer of 2016 for a club-record fee, and he was dubbed the ‘N’Golo Kanté replacement’ by the media. Although he made 118 appearances at the King Power Stadium and was a part of their 2021 FA Cup-winning squad, the midfielder largely failed to live up to expectations and was released on a free transfer in 2023.
He has spent the last two years in Ligue 1 with RC Lens, but, similarly to his time in the East Midlands, he has struggled to establish himself as a regular starter due to a mixture of fitness issues and poor form.
During his stint back in France, Mendy played just 26 league games and fewer than 2,000 minutes across the 2023/24 and 2024/25 campaigns.
Is This A Good Signing For Watford?
Mendy has played 164 games in the French top flight, 98 games in the Premier League, and he was also playing in the Champions League two seasons ago. This means that, in terms of pedigree, he is an excellent acquisition for a second-tier club.
However, the Hornets already have an experienced option who can play in central midfield in the form of Moussa Sissoko. If the former Tottenham Hotspur man, who is now 36 years old, was to be paired with an ageing Mendy in the Hornets’ midfield, they could very easily be overrun by a younger and more mobile opposition.
It will be interesting to see if Pezzolano and co. try to recruit another more experienced head in the centre of defence in the final few days of the window.
Often, the central centre-back in a back three does not have a large physical burden placed upon them, meaning it would be a good position for an older head to play in, and the Hornets have lost a lot of experience in that department following the departures of Angelo Ogbonna and Francisco Sierralta.