French midfielder signed ‘pre-contract’ with Watford earlier this year – Will commit for the next five years

For the past year or so, there have been a number of stories regarding a Premier League interest in Le Havre’s young midfielder Pape Gueye.

Teams such as Leicester City, West Ham and Watford had been circling, and it’s the latter who have won the race.

France Football are the ones to report this on Tuesday, explaining the 21-year-old signed a ‘pre-contract’ with the Hornets earlier this year.

Gueye, whose contract with the Ligue 2 side was expiring this summer, will join Watford on a five-year contract after a good season with Le Havre during which he played 25 games and scored two goals in the league.

France Football talk up his versatility, explaining he can play in a number of roles, such as in front of the defence or in a double pivot, and make it clear the left-footed midfielder has ‘everything to appeal’ in the Premier League.

We’ll have to see how much game time he will be given next year, but with an uncertainty hovering around the future of Abdoulaye Doucouré, who said the club wouldn’t stop him from leaving should a good offer for him arrive, perhaps this is who the Hornets had in mind to be the 27-year-old’s long-term replacement.