[SOLD] Cucho Hernandez

I didn't say £8m is out of the picture?

 

Add Adam Le Fondre and it's a yes from me.

 

Yeah, I think I had a discussion on MLS with you a while back, and since then, I’ve made a point to get myself into the league and keep up with Houston’s fortunes a little closer. Tried to get into town for a few games with the kids as well, which has been decent.

If you’re ranking the quality, the likes of Vela and Russell, and Gil are probably amongst the very top in MLS right now from what I’ve seen. You’d expect Insigne and Hector Herrera to comfortably join them once they sign and settle in. I’ve been impressed with Fagundez whenever I’ve watched Austin, too.

I reckon Cucho falls comfortably into the next bracket of players, somewhere below the best the league has to offer. I think his physical tools and desire would make him effective and he’ll get goals.

The one thing he obviously has over the others mentioned above is age, and would be going there before his peak, as opposed to after it like many others leaving European football for MLS.

If it happens, I’ll be pretty disappointed, given his status of being one of the few players we have who are before their peak, and actually seem to give a shyte about winning.

 

I totally agree, I'll be very disappointed, too, though I've always been one of the more cynical among us in terms who is prepared to and, indeed, going to end up staying this summer. As you say, he'll be a very effective operator there, and likely a star for them, without having a Giovinco/Ibrahimovic/Gil-sized impact; at least not off the bat. It does concern me slightly given his terrier-tendencies that MLS is a league largely fuelled by players making individual dribbles and driving with the ball, to a ludicrous degree compared to most. Without some pretty tight tactical instruction and a system in place, it could indulge that aspect of his game too much, to the detriment of the other bits that clearly already need work. It is equally true to say that he's got a better playing pedigree than, say, Hany Mukhtar, and Mukhtar has had quite a decent impact since moving stateside.

I do find it a little odd, though, as one thing MLS is not particularly good at yet is proving they can provide an effective stepping stone to big money transfers to big leagues. Unless I'm mistaken the record is still Almiron to Newcastle, and the relative failure of that deal seems to have put clubs off since; at least until very recently.

There is an exception to that when it comes to very young, homegrown players, but Cucho is already in that position, and I don't see any path from what I've witnessed to him being more desirable out of that league than he would be judged to be right now (however much that is). It feels a bit to me like he's choosing to go there to be a big fish in a small(er) pond in a Gil-type sense, rather than with progression in mind.

 

Leventhal confirming it’s going ahead. Such an odd move.

 

The move itself or Leventhal confirming it? Or both!

 

Bizarre.

The norm with this head case club, though.

 

Adam Leventhal
@AdamLeventhal

New •
@TheAthleticUK
#WatfordFC transfer news Watford deal agreed with Columbus Crew to sell Cucho Hernandez. Permanent transfer, final details being put on move. Colombian who scored 5 PL goals last season heading to MLS.

This transfer has really p1ssed me off. It's unlikely we're going to have a competitive squad for the top end of the league, no matter how much spin AL and the hierarchy want to put on it. A very unambitious statement of intent.

 

He’s a player I think would have scored 20+ in the Championship but if he’s not minded to stay then best to move him on and pocket the cash. The move is sideways at best but I guess he thinks he’ll have a better chance of an international call if he proves himself in MLS.

 

If anything, as others have already discussed, it appears to be more of a head case move by the player himself rather than the club.

It would appear to be more of a lifestyle type move rather than one having many merits in a footballing sense.

We wait now to see the fee. If it’s in excess of £8 million, I’m not sure our club is acting foolishly by accepting it, considering our current circumstances.

As ever of course, it will then depend on if and how we re-invest this windfall, and like others I’d not be over-confident it would be used wisely.

 

The only thing I can think of is that it's probably more visible to South American eyes than the Championship, but still, I'd have hoped for some interest from a team in a top league

 

Makes sense from his perspective I guess. Other option you'd have thought would be back to La Liga but he hardly set the world alight in his three loan spells there and doubt any of the clubs at the bottom of the league would pay what we'd want for him.

 

Absolutely gutted. He obviously didn’t want to be here and with how he was under utilized last year, don’t blame him.

Would have easily got 20 G/A this season in the championship. He will tear up the MLS.

As gutted as I am, we can’t have players that don’t want to be here. So can only we hope we got a very good fee.

 

If Cucho wants to play in the MLS at 23 he doesn’t care less about becoming a better player, he is only interested in the cash/lifestyle. In which case he won’t be suited to the grind of the championship

 

Classic Ponzo shenanigans... Hype him up for a few years, finally get him over, start him eleven times in the league then flog him.

 

I'm not too bothered by him going, he's decent but not great and he lacked a bit of pace for the PL. I'm surprised he's not gone to La Liga though.

He still would have done well in the Champ of course, so the ultimate sentiment will depend on what we do to replace him. If the £8mil or so can be put towards someone like Gyokeres or Semenyo then we could have done well out of it.

 

Turns out it wasn’t nonsense

 

I like Cucho and would have liked him to stay, but if the player wants to leave and go to MLS of all places then take the money and wish him well. If the money from Cucho, Dennis and Sarr means we can avoid having to cash in on Louza and JP then that's fine with me.

 

Don’t worry guys, Penaranda is gonna be like a new signing

 

At least the pound is weak at the moment

 

Spend five years getting that work permit. Worth it.

 

It's his year...










To find a new permanent club.

 

Only after we pay him off of course

 

£10mil fee apparently. That was the bare minimum so at least we got that.

 

Doesn't want to better himself then going to mls at 23 obviously don't want to be here or anywhere else get the cash and move on

 

8th highest fee we’ve ever received for a player. Based on his actual impact and if it’s true he didn’t want to stay I think it’s fairly good business.

 

Sauce?

 

Twitter

 

Seen $10m quoted, not £10m

 

Terrible business- the fee will be almost nothing from these tinpot yeehas

 

Absolutely no chance we spend the money necessary to sign players like that, it'll be loans (hopefully someone like Archer!), or cheap Afobe types

 

Wonder if this strengthens our hand a bit in Sarr/Dennis negotiations? For example, maybe we could push to get £25m rather than £20m?

 

Lou has tweeted he was told the fee was around £9.8mil. An American reporter says the fee smashes their record. Their main reporter has said it is definitely a club record fee. I think people are simply putting a $ instead of a £. Obviously could be wrong and knowing us, it probably is $10mil which is only £8.1mil which is shocking. I’m holding onto the hope that the board haven’t had their pants pulled down, and got £10mil for him.