Joining Standard Liège permanently on July 1st for £2.7m, Obbi Oulare will finally be able to put his Watford days behind him, never managing to convince the managers that came and went after his £7.4m transfer from Club Brugge.
Joining in 2015, the now 23-year-old only ever managed three first-team appearances with the Hornets, spending time elsewhere on loan instead when he wasn’t injured.
Spells with Zulte Waregem, Willem II, Royal Antwerp and Standard Liege all helped time go by, and he will now get a chance to prove his worth back in his home country away from the pressure of being attached to a Premier League club.
Speaking to Sport/Foot this week, Oulare opened up about his transfer to Watford, and, like many others before him, he admits his struggles helped him grow as a human being.
He said: “It would be easy to now say it would have been best to stay at Brugge. Either way, we’ll never know, and it’s always easier to make the right choice when you have this kind of experience in your career. On a football level, I was ready (for Watford). Elsewhere, maybe not.
“I had private problems, it was a bit complicated around then. But, I also see positives in that adventure. I learned a lot in England, that’s where I became a man. When things are difficult, you progress mentally, and when the difficulty is great, you learn even more.”
Hoping his injury issues are now behind him following a hip operation, the soon-to-be former Watford striker still has plenty of time to prove himself in European football.
He just has a few years to make up for, and he appears ready to do so in an environment that will provide him with regular first-team football.
