Watford are ‘closing in’ on signing the ‘beating heart’ of Italian giants

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Watford have been busy in the summer transfer market this season, signing several new faces to give them the best opportunity to achieve their play-off ambitions.

The Hornets appointed Paulo Pezzolano this summer to replace Tom Cleverley, and the club wasted no time in supporting the manager in the transfer market.

Watford signed Nestory Irankunda from Bayern Munich this summer, as well as completing deals for the likes of Hector Kyprianou and Marc Bola earlier in the window.

They did not have it all their own way in the market though, after Ashley Young chose Ipswich Town over a return to his former club and Pape Diallo snubbed Watford for Norwich City.

However, they appear to have gotten right back on track with the latest news about the club being close to bringing in two new faces to Vicarage Road.

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Watford closing in on Sandi Lovric

According to reports in the Watford Observer, Watford are close to signing Slovenian international Sandi Lovric.

Lovric is currently contracted to Serie A side Udinese, a club Watford have close ties to, as the clubs are owned by the same family.

This would be the fourth signing of the summer that Watford have made from Udinese, this time coming in the shape of Lovric, following the permanent addition of Vivaldo Semedo and loans of Luca Kjerrumgaard and James Abankwah.

He has previously been described by a journalist in Sempreinter as the ‘beating heart’ of Udinese’s midfield.

This would make him a great addition to the Watford team, adding that energy and work rate in the heart of midfield.

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Lovric’s impact on Watford

The Slovenian international played the fourth most minutes across the Serie A of any player last season, demonstrating his importance to Udinese and the consistency and reliability he would bring to Watford.

Lovric will not have a major impact on Watford going forward in attack but can still chip in with this, having scored two goals and providing three assists last season across his 36 appearances in Serie A, with 31 of those being starts.

However, his role would be more of a defensive one for Watford in their midfield, attempting to snuff out the danger before anything can arise, and he has demonstrated through his performances and stats last season he is capable of this for the Hornets.