Watford and Grégoire Defrel is a bit of a strange one, as every transfer window, the French striker gets linked at least once with the Hornets, regardless of who’s in charge.
Last summer, when Marco Silva was still around, the 27-year-old was briefly mentioned as a potential target, and he reappeared both in January and this transfer window with Javi Gracia at the helm.
This led us to believe he could be a club target for Watford, rather than a specific managerial desire, but now Everton are said to be keen, and we’re back to square one.
Corriere dello Sport on Monday believe at least three clubs, all named, have been ‘working on’ trying to convince Defrel to move to England this summer, and those are West Ham, Crystal Palace and the Toffees.
Considering how many moves on the market the Hammers have already made, we can more or less rule them out for the time being, as the only way we can see them signing the Roma man is if Marko Arnautovic were to leave.
As for Crystal Palace and Everton, it makes a little bit more sense.
A lot depends on what Roy Hodgson wants to do next season, but with Connor Wickham’s injury record and Alexander Sörloth more of a wide-forward, another striker wouldn’t hurt at Selhurst Park.
Over at Goodison Park, a new versatile forward isn’t exactly needed, but we’ll have to see what Marco Silva thinks of Sandro and Oumar Niasse before writing this transfer off entirely.
Regarding Defrel’s personal preference, according to Corriere, the only club he’d be willing to stay in Italy for is Sampdoria.
His time at AS Roma, as short as it has been, appears to be over, after featuring just 20 times for the Serie A club last season in all competitions, scoring one measly goal (from the spot).
Not the best return after his £13.5m transfer last summer.
