Watford will be hoping for a much-improved campaign in the Championship this season. After a lackluster 2022-23 campaign, where the Hornets finished 15th in the league, the club is looking to turn the page with a fresh approach under head coach Tom Cleverley. The former Manchester United and England midfielder, now leading from the dugout, has impressed in the early stages of this season, igniting hope that Watford could be contenders for promotion.
Cleverley becomes the 21st manager to take charge of Watford since the Pozzo family took ownership in 2012. While the high turnover of managers has been a notable trend, the club has also experienced its fair share of ups and downs in the transfer market. Over the years, Watford has made a string of signings that promised much but ultimately failed to deliver. The team has undergone a much-needed rebuild in recent months, bringing in 11 new faces, including Angelo Ogbonna, Moussa Sissoko, Festy Ebosele, Rocco Vata, and Daniel Jebbison. The club also saw the departure of Ben Hamer, Joao Ferreira, Jake Livermore, Ashley Fletcher, and Mileta Rajovic.
However, not all transfer windows have been this promising. In fact, some have been rather disastrous. Here, we take a look back at five of Watford’s biggest transfer flops in recent memory—players who arrived with high expectations but ultimately left fans disappointed.
Maduka Okoye
Maduka Okoye joined Watford from Dutch side Sparta Rotterdam in January 2022 for a fee believed to be around €6 million (£5.1 million). The young goalkeeper was expected to be a long-term solution between the posts, but his impact was minimal. After his transfer, Okoye was loaned back to Sparta for the remainder of the 2021-22 season before returning to Vicarage Road in the summer of 2022.
Despite the excitement surrounding his arrival, Okoye struggled to break into the first team. He made just two appearances in cup competitions during the 2022-23 season, both of which ended in 2-0 defeats. Okoye never played in the Championship and eventually departed for Udinese, another club owned by the Pozzo family. Ironically, Okoye has since found success in Serie A, even drawing interest from Italian giants Inter Milan this summer. His failure to thrive at Watford, despite excelling elsewhere, has left many fans wondering what could have been.
Adalberto Peñaranda
Signed with high hopes from Udinese in February 2016, Adalberto Peñaranda was seen as one of the most exciting young prospects in European football. The Venezuelan forward had shone at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, and there was much anticipation surrounding his arrival at Watford. Unfortunately, Peñaranda’s career at Vicarage Road never took off.
Peñaranda was immediately loaned out to Granada and had several other temporary stints at clubs such as Udinese and Málaga before finally making his Watford debut in January 2019, nearly three years after signing. His first appearance came in a 2-0 FA Cup win over Woking, but his involvement with the first team remained sporadic. Peñaranda made just four appearances for the club, scoring two goals, before he was released to join Boavista on a free transfer in 2022. His failure to break through at Watford will always be a massive disappointment, especially given the hype that accompanied his signing.
Obbi Oularé
Belgian striker Obbi Oularé joined Watford from Club Brugge in September 2015 for a fee of around £5 million. Following the club’s promotion to the Premier League, Oularé was seen as a strong addition to bolster their attacking options. However, his time at the club was nothing short of disastrous.
Oularé made just three appearances in his first season, including a forgettable FA Cup debut against Newcastle United in which he was substituted at halftime. After that, he was loaned out to a series of clubs, including Zulte Waregem, Willem II, Antwerp, and Standard Liège. Eventually, Watford cut their losses and sold him to Standard on a permanent basis in 2019. Oularé’s time at the club was largely forgettable, and his failure to make an impact remains a low point in Watford’s transfer history.
Isaac Success
In July 2016, Isaac Success became Watford’s record signing when he moved from Granada for £12.5 million. The Nigerian forward had impressed during his time in Spain, and Watford fans were eager to see him replicate that form in England. However, Success struggled to make the grade in the Premier League.
His first two seasons saw limited game time, and by January 2018, he was loaned out to Málaga, where his fortunes didn’t improve. Upon returning to Watford, Success still failed to deliver consistently, and injuries further hampered his progress. After five frustrating years with the club, he left for Udinese in 2021. Success’s signing was a significant financial investment, but his inability to perform regularly on the pitch made him a costly flop for the Hornets.
Andre Gray
Andre Gray arrived at Watford in August 2017 for a club-record fee of £18.5 million from Burnley. Having impressed at Burnley, Gray was expected to provide the firepower needed to keep Watford in the Premier League. While he had moments of brilliance, Gray’s overall contribution fell well short of expectations, given the hefty price tag.
Gray managed just 21 goals and eight assists in 125 appearances for Watford. Despite his physical attributes and work rate, he often struggled with consistency in front of goal. In August 2021, Gray was loaned out to Queens Park Rangers, and after his return, he was released by the club in the summer of 2022. While Gray’s overall record isn’t as poor as some of the other names on this list, the size of the transfer fee and his inability to consistently deliver at the highest level mark him as one of Watford’s more disappointing signings.
| Isaac Success’ stats for Watford (according to Transfermarkt) | |||
| Season | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 2016-17 | 19 | 1 | 1 |
| 2017-18 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2018-19 | 35 | 4 | 1 |
| 2019-20 | 7 | 0 | 2 |
| 2020-21 | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 72 | 6 | 5 |
While Watford has had its fair share of successes in the transfer market, it’s clear that not every signing has lived up to expectations. The likes of Maduka Okoye, Adalberto Peñaranda, Obbi Oularé, Isaac Success, and Andre Gray have left fans wondering what might have been had things turned out differently. As the Hornets look forward to a new era under Tom Cleverley, they’ll be hoping that their current crop of signings will fare better, leading the club back to the Premier League and avoiding the fate of these costly flops.
