Dodi Lukebakio may have only ever made one appearance for Watford during his year and a half at the club, but he also allowed the Hornets to make a £13.5m profit.
The young winger, who was originally brought to Vicarage Road from RSC Charleroi, was sent on loan to Fortuna Düsseldorf for the 2018-19 season and impressed so much that Hertha BSC came knocking a month after this return to England.
Since his Watford exit, Lukebakio continued his good form in the Bundesliga, scoring five goals and assisting another five in 22 league appearances in a team that struggled for most of the campaign, as they were 13th when Covid-19 pandemic struck.
His decision to return to Germany was a well thought out one, as he also had the opportunity to go to Lille in Ligue 1, who saw him as the ideal replacement for Nicolas Pépé.
He revealed to Sport/Foot magazine this week why he turned them down: “It was a super complicated decision to make. There’s two things that made the difference. The German league, that I already knew and I’d enjoyed. I wanted to surf on that continuity, and then there’s the two of Berlin that I liked and wanted to discover.
“I also knew the ambitious project Hertha had. I knew, therefore, they were a club where I was risking a bit more having to fight for a spot, but that’s never scared me”.It won’t matter all that much to Watford fans, who never really got a chance to get behind the 22-year-old, but football is a business, and if you can make a £13m+ profit in 18 months, you do it.
