“Watford wanted me” – Rejecting ‘dream’ transfer to Hornets resulted in club anger

Luca Antonini played for 12 Italian clubs during his career, some of them twice, starting out at AC Milan and ending at Prato.

The 39-year-old was never able to progress for the Italy side beyond the U18 team, and his career looks like a bit journeyman style. The constant changing of clubs could have included a move to English football with Watford.

Antonini has explained that he was given the chance to join Watford, and was very attracted by the idea of moving to England, yet gave up the opportunity anyway.

He wanted to stay at Genoa and in the Liguria region, and the decision didn’t go down very well with his club at the time.

Pianeta Milan quote the former fullback as saying: “In January 2015 Watford wanted me , but, although going to England was a dream, I chose to stay in Liguria. This decision did not agree with the vision of the club, which put me out of the squad. But my relationship with the Rossoblu environment has always remained beautiful.”

The same year he then moved to Ascoli, before spells at Livorno and finally Prato, where he finished his playing career in November 2016. Snubbing that Watford chance was a big call and the move may well have seen him prolong his career for a little longer, yet, it wasn’t to be.