Yes I get that but they both signed when we were an “established” Premier League side that wasn’t in any real danger of being relegated. I thought that Suarez was happy to stay but we decided to cash in? Could be wrong though.
I also doubt they have any plans beyond football. Difficult to imagine a better opportunity for them to make money than Watford FC.
Suarez may have been content enough to play in the Championship for us, but Granada was a very attractive proposition for him, with his family being from there, and with them being in the Europa League
Points taken but I thought is wife was from Zaragoza (which is quite far from Granada) I think and his immediate family were obviously from Colombia.
Colombia fans not at all happy he wasn't given any minutes in the last two qualifiers, particularly as they haven't scored a goal in their last seven competitive games. Their coach has the dubious honour of ruining two nations' chances of qualifying for the World Cup as he was in charge of Chile's terrible start to the campaign, got sacked and has now cost Colombia their place too.
I think that Suarez was looking to leave and he had been linked with Marseilles. He had joined a new agent that season and his agent was making it clear that Suarez planned to leave. The attraction of Granada was that they would be playing in the the Europa League and - I have read - that his wife's family lives in the city. Suarez had already spent some time there because he played for the Granada 'B' team (which is when he met his wife).
Looks like he’s staying at envagado as their manager is expecting him back to play this weekend according to his press conference and a liberal using of Google translate!
Probably the right decision. The kid said he'd like to stay there and there's no point bringing him aboard the Titanic just after we've hit the iceberg.
https://twitter.com/EnvigadoFC/status/1489665056279257088 Confirmed as heading back to Envigado for 6 months
Right decision. Also saves us getting his every move being rammed down our throats to cover up our embarrassing relegation form like they did with João. Although even that was better than the way the social media channels post Happy Birthday about anyone who has a vague connection to Watford. Incidentally, Happy Birthday Joel Ekstrand...
Yeeeessss!! Let the loan fee money printing machine loose! They’re probably paying us more in loan fees than we did for him. Lol!
I can see the positives of him staying in an environment that he’s happy in, as long as his work permit won’t be a problem in the summer. Still would’ve preferred him to play at a higher level though.
I'm presuming (and hoping) that we got the work permit which meant the level of loan wouldn't matter and we know he's gonna get regular football so it'll do for 6 months. If he failed his work permit then it makes 0 sense however.
Yes. This was my take too. I think they were planning on sending him to Deportivo Cali or some other Libertadores side which would have earned him the WP but probably have been worse for his development (because of the disruption of joining a new side, moving away from home etc). Staying at Envigado would be better from that perspective but wouldn’t have been wise if it resulted in no WP but now that’s not a concern.
His career will probably be over by the end of the summer after spending the money we're giving him on 'Medellin nightlife'. Are gold digging UK InstaHos not good enough for him or something?
I'm going with the latter. I fully expect the club to have to loan him out again next season to get a WP.
A 6-month delay on implementing the most naturally-applying player chant of all time - disappointing.
I did write in an earlier post that there have been various reports in Colombia (including from a journalist named Alexis Rodriguez) that a work permit for Yaser Asprilla to play in the Premier League was granted on Thursday, 27th January, so that it would not be necessary for him to join another club in order to gain the necessary points to qualify for a work permit. The original plan was for Asprilla to join Deportivo Cali (who will be playing in the Copa Libertadores) or Udinese in order for him to acquire sufficient points to qualify for a work permit to play in the Premier League. The reports mentioned that Watford and Envigado were in talks about whether Asprilla should stay with Envigado for the next six months (which was his preference) or come directly to Watford. I failed to mention that the reports actually referred to the work permit being for him to play in the Premier League in the 2022-23 season. Ryan Gray suggests in the Watford Observer that Asprilla does not yet have sufficient points to qualify for a work permit, but he does not always seem to be in full possession of the facts (e.g. when he claimed that Watford had no interest in signing Kalu). The report by Lucas Sposito in Sports Witness (which is based on Colombian sources) takes a different slant and makes no mention about there is still a work permit issue. I agree with Reids and LeedsOrn that it would make no sense for him to continue at Envigado if he did not already have a work permit to play in the Premier League. https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/19901863.envigado-keep-watfords-yaser-asprilla-loan/ http://sportwitness.co.uk/watford-signing-wont-joining-hornets-season-papers-signed-players-request/
I love they have confirmed he left them to us - and then wished him luck. And then announced they have signed him from us. All the while, we haven’t even officially mentioned him once. Strong whiff of him never playing for us, or even arriving. Some club will buy him from us for £4m and it’ll be crowed about as excellent business because he never wanted to play for us anyway.
Would you be a bit peeved if you were Asprilla? He gets a big move to a Premier League club, it's all over the news in his home country and yet we don't even bother announcing it. Maybe it's just me but it wouldn't exactly give me a good impression of Watford.