Watford ‘strongly interested’ in player – ‘Close to closing the deal’ ahead of January

Watford are close to sealing a deal for Montreal CF midfielder Ismaël Koné ahead of the January transfer window.

That’s according to Tuttomercatoweb, who say the Hornets are ‘strongly interested’ in the 20-year-old, who is currently at the World Cup with Canada.

He made his first appearance at the tournament in Qatar yesterday, coming on as a second half substitute in the 1-0 defeat to Belgium yesterday.

It is his performances for Montreal in the MLS that have attracted Watford though, with the midfielder on five assists and two goals in 26 games this year despite playing in just 52% of the available minutes.

Those are decent numbers and TMW say he is now ‘concretely in the sights’ of the Championship side ahead of the winter window.

They make no mention of the fee Watford would have to pay for the midfielder or even if Montreal are willing to let the youngster go, but the website do say they are ‘close to closing the deal’ for Canadian talent.

We’ll have to take that with a pinch of salt for the time being, but Koné may be a name worth keeping an eye on in terms of Watford transfers moving forwards.