Skysports.com understands that Hameur Bouazza is ready to quit Watford. It is believed the French-born Algerian international met with Hornets boss Adrian Boothroyd and revealed his ambition is to return to the Premier League this summer. Bouazza, who graduated through the youth ranks at Vicarage Road, feels he needs to remain in the top flight. A number of Premiership clubs are now believed to be tracking the 22-year-old and Watford are bracing themselves for bids. The likes of Bolton, Fulham, Sunderland and Birmingham are all thought to be keeping close tabs on the situation.
Now to see if Aidy is true to his word. None of the crown jewels leave unless they meet our asking price (which will be massive). As per WBA.
He has only just come through as a regular 1st teamer though...think he sould stay with us for one season at least! Yes was good last season but who he get into most Premiership sides?
i hope he doesnt go but if a premership club come knocking then, fair well lets just hope no teams come for him
I'd suggest to him that we would condsider sensible offers at Xmas but not consider letting him go now. We'll then bea ble to tell if we can afford to let him go and possibly we may be in a position that persuades him to stay. I reckon he'd be worth £7M plus at Xmas.
Maybe this is what Aidy meant by saying that he have the two best wingers in the league- Smith and McAnuff, with Bouazza off to the Prem?
At some stage we have to stop selling our better players if we really want to push on. However, it was only just over a season ago and Boozer was out on loan at Swindon. Unfortunately he is about the only really exciting player we have left but anything over £5 mill and we will sell again - I am basing this on Koumas' price. Do you think we would sell for around £3 mill? Bloody hope not.
Why? Every communication from WFC wants us to not believe we're a small club anymore. We're rolling in cash, the transfer market is boyant and there's a precedent in the shape of WBA that players can hold their Prem value (and even make it go up) by playing in the Championship. Even if the club isn't promoted. If a Prem club comes knocking we should say, 'thanks for the interest but no thanks. We're building a promotion challenging side and can't do that by selling our best players' We've also been more than fair to Hameur over the years - we brought him to this country and gave him loads of time to develop and stood by him when he was injured. We deserve the first benefit from that. This will be a big test of Simpson/Aidy's ambition in my mind. If they bottle it and sell Hameur for an average price cos he wants to play at a higher level we might as well give up now. My only concession to that would be if someone offered £10m or something silly like that...then it'd be worth giving half a thought to.
Koumas is 28, Hameur is 22. I'd say they were equaly good footballers - but Hameur has potential to much more whereas Koumas is at his peak. 7 mio is my limit for Hameur - but I think we'd sell at 5.
Bouazza has had one good season and thats not enough to say "Come and get me". 2 seasons ago he was bloody rubbish,had no control and ran around like a headless chicken with very little end product. Believe me,he is over rated and has alot more to do yet. I would take 2mill and say bye.
We don't need the money. We are having dificulty attracting quality players. We should not sell anyone unless we have secured an equal or better replecament.
I agree that we should not be letting go of our best players but at the end of the day if the player does not want to stay then there is not much that can be done! It's all well and good questionng Aidy and the Board's ambition but why keep an unhappy player? Bouazza is replaceable and in my opinion McAnuff will be a better player.
I highly doubt anyone will be mad enough to offer that much for somebody who has little Premiership experience and still has improving to do. However I did say Young wouldn't go from more than 5 million so I have beenj proved wrong in the past! I wouldn't feel confident having Smith and McAnuff on their own to cover thw wingers as they can be just as hit and miss.
Boothroyd won't want any players who are unhappy and don't want to be at the club. If he wants to leave then let him go I say - but no less than £4 million.
Hameur WANTS out ... NOT GOOD Skysports.com understands that Hameur Bouazza is ready to quit Watford. It is believed the French-born Algerian international met with Hornets boss Adrian Boothroyd and revealed his ambition is to return to the Premier League this summer. Bouazza, who graduated through the youth ranks at Vicarage Road, feels he needs to remain in the top flight. A number of Premiership clubs are now believed to be tracking the 22-year-old and Watford are bracing themselves for bids. The likes of Bolton, Fulham, Sunderland and Birmingham are all thought to be keeping close tabs on the situation.
Damn, he'd be vital to us if we want to go up straight away, and it would be a shame to loose him. But if he wants to go, and a reasonable price is arranged, theres nothing we can do to stop him. Lets hope its just a rumour...
If he wants out, he can uck off then. Waiting one more season to get back into the premiership with the club that brought him throuh the ranks makes him a unt like the rest of the money grabbing canuts. If however the story is just make believe, then I am happy that he stays. He would struggle to get a regular first team starting place in most of the premiership sides - so he could go to Wigan, Derby, Brum and slumberland where he would get the most starts. I don't see how having one more season at Waford and helping them back to the premiership where he wants to be detrimental to his career. wo seasons ago we had to loan him out to a shyte 3rd division club - he hasn't improved that much.
On his day, Hammer was a real threatening player in the Prem, but all too often his game sank to sub-mediocrity. I do think this will improve with time, nurturing and coaching, but it may have an impact on his value in the eyes of any prem managers who may be thinking of an offer. I say he should allow Watford at least this season to go back up. He has not demonstrated a divine right to be a top flight player, so should try and earn his way there by playing out of his skin for us. If he absolutely decides to go, then it is quite right in this crazy market, that we demand silly money. 7 mill + would be a snip at today's prices. Having said all this, the article is deliberately vague, so this is probably all pie in the sky.
I'm with you paddy, if wants out then he can uck off, I'd want at the very least 3million for him though!!!
Based on the presumption this is true, which without quotes I'm slightly dubious about... It's not in our interests to sell, so why do so unless the offer is far too good to refuse? He signed a new contract last season so we're well within our rights to expect a hefty transfer fee in the region of an absolute minimum of £7 million in today's transfer market. We don't need to sell, so why not milk a Premiership club for some of their TV money...if they really do want him they will pay £7 million+ make no mistake about that. If we didn't get an offer in that region, then he should obviously be made to stay. Yes he might have a tantrum but he'd get over it in a couple of months, especially if we're near the top of the table...plus he'd come back down to earth pretty quickly if Smith and Jobi are keeping him out the team.
I don't want Boozer to go but if he wants to leave we should not under-estimate his value. He a full international albeit Algeria are rated 67 in the world. He scored 6 prem goals from 26 starts and a further 2 FA Cup goals from 3 starts. Other similar, young players valued close to £10 mill: Ash 5 goals form 31 starts. Milner 3 from 31 (probably made a lot more). Agbonlahor 9 from 37. So he shouldn't be cheap unless he is nearing the end of his contract. Anyone know when this expires.
Ady holds all the cards whatever Hameur wants as I believe he is on a pretty long contract signed only last season. IMO he is overrated as he still isn't consistent enough and I would grab any decent offer (over £3mil). If we could use him as bait to get HH back then so much the better ... could even pave the way for an offer for Kris Commons.
Agree with this and also many of the other opinions regarding only keeping players who are committed to the cause. H plus £5 million would do it for me, as although Boozer is improving I think we already have his replacements. It appears we might get a decent figure for him as there appears to be some clubs with cash who are in the chase. Also picked up by Eat Sleep.... c/p Striker exit talk at Hornets Tue, Jul 10 2007 16:47 Bolton, Fulham, Sunderland and Birmingham are reportedly on alert with Hameur Bouazza tipped to quit Watford to stay in the Premiership The 22-year-old forward is said to be desperate to continue in the top flight and following the Hornets' instant return to the Championship at the end of last season, Bouazza is ready to leave Vicarage Road. His exit would be a big blow for Adie Boothroyd as he bids to lead the club to a second promotion in three years but speculation claims the Trotters, the Black Cats, the Cottagers and Blues are now mulling over a deal for the Algerian international. Meanwhile, Boothroyd admits the title race next season is wide open given the presence of a number of established Championship sides in the division next season plus a few unknown entitities. He told the club's website: "All the teams that did so well last year, like Cardiff, Preston, Wolves and West Brom, will be challenging. "Then you've got the teams who came down with us, Charlton and Sheffield United, and then those who will be looking to progress such as Stoke, Plymouth and Colchester. "Then who knows what the likes of Scunthorpe and Bristol City will be capable of?"
A year ago we'd have laughed at any potential interest from Premiership sides, lets not forget that. Sure he might have raised a few eyebrows with a couple of classy performances but on the whole he was hardly a consistent threat. Perhaps this is down to playing in such a poor side but i have my doubts. If a Premiership club offers us decent money and Aidy has potential replacements in mind then i'd take it.
