Until now, even whispering about the resumption of the season was seen as a controversial subject and beyond the pale for many, never mind making a song and dance about a new addition to a squad.
Trendsetters?
But the Hornets have pressed on with this regardless and now have broken the main unwritten rule of the coronavirus break: Don’t go announcing massive financial transactions while the rest of the world is on lockdown.
Pape Gueye will be joining the side on a free transfer after his deal with French Ligue 2 side Le Havre expired. The official club website didn’t give any details of the length of the deal or the size of it but you can be sure that it won’t be cheap.
For The Future
Gueye is a 21-year-old defensive midfielder who has spent his whole career in the second tier of France, featuring 40 times for his season. 2019/2020 seems to be his breakthrough year as the Frenchman has played 25 league games for the club and over 2,000 minutes.
Watford gained some credit with the decision to not furlough non-playing staff as they agreed wage deferrals with the rest of the side, but how will it go down with them that their bosses are planning for new transfers and new financial commitments while they’ve asked players to earn less over this period?
Concerns
This is one concern players have had over this period. They were worried that owners would ask them to save the club heaps of money and then go and use that spare cash to conclude deals, just like Watford have done with Pape Gueye.
And it just feels slightly weird and a bit off for a Premier League side to conclude negotiations with someone while the rest of the world is in lockdown and scared. But then I suppose that was the point of not placing non-playing squad on furlough - so they would be able to negotiate contracts, continue scouting and get deals over the line.