Would be really quite the piece of bad luck to manage to import the worst centre back ever to play in the Premier League from Udinese twice in a row. The odds alone would be astronomical.
We’ve signed/been gifted a lot of dross from Udinese over the years. Leo-Beleck, Neuton, Geojo, Fanchone and Faraoni to name a few. Pussetto seemed to be decently rated (depending on who you listened to, in fairness) when he signed and he disappeared in a puff of smoke the moment it was clear he wasn’t up to it. Personally, I believe this is another example of the club doing things ‘on the cheap’ and not being prepared to spend the money required to seriously strengthen our defence. Happy to eat my words if I’m wrong but this seems a shortsighted move.
You might be on to something there. Get him some appearances for Udinese and he'll automatically qualify for a UK work permit.
Beginning to like this deal more, even though it wouldn't surprise me if Kabasele suddenly managed to get fit and start looking like a competent defender as soon as he joins them!
Udinese fans should be happy about this move, surely the last thing they want is us to be relegated again and end up with more players like Isaac Success.
Yes, but we've also had a lot of decent players too. Unless I'm forgetting someone obvious, this is the first time we've ever signed a player from Udinese who was actually a nailed on starter every game for them.
From our end or their end? Being an EU citizen doesn't matter any more from the UK perspective. Could be relevant from the Udinese side though. A handful of top flight appearances in any top league in most decent nations and you will basically automatically qualify for a UK work permit in the vast majority of cases, so either way it's good for us.
I think you just need to be named on the bench to get 12 points, I don’t think number of appearances matter.
I think the Colombian league is band 4 and he's made plenty of appearances this year, so yeah a single sub appearance for Udinese gets him over the line.
How many of the names you listed started regularly in Serie A? We've also had several excellent additions from Udinese: Abdi, Forestieri, Sierralta, Ighalo, Vydra. We're in a unique situation versus our relegation rivals in that we have easy access to the players of a top level side, and can potentially recruit them at lower than their market value, or on a helpful payment structure. Why not make use of it? And as RS2 mentioned, have you actually seen him play football? Should we not judge each arrival on their individual merits, rather than arbitrarily lumping them into group?
Fantastic signing. A beast of a CB AND has upset the drooling Italian hordes. The only slight drawback is up until 5 minutes ago I'd never ******* heard of him, let alone seen him play.
Unfortunately this article rubbishes the notion that Kabasele will leave this month. If WTE isn’t going back there, then I suspect that unfortunately the Nkoulou rumours will be true. We can’t be planning on having 7 centre-backs in the squad!
I’ve followed this boys career ever since he made his breakthrough at Flamengo. Since then I’ve watched virtually every single match he has played, often travelling to Brazil and later Italy to see him live. I’m afraid to say this lad is utter garbage. Can’t tackle, can’t pass, weak in the air and very injury prone. I’ve wasted my life.
Yet another indication that the club can’t or won’t scout defenders. It’s genuinely crazy how they get given a pass every time they do this - Platypus, I’m looking at you. This guy has been in and out of a Udinese backline for years - that’s a level way below what we need. It’s a level that’s WTE was at before he joined us. Stop clapping along because you think they’re listening. It’s getting silly.
He hasn’t started one game for them this season, due to suspension. He seems a level above WTE but I think it’s natural to have some concerns about a Udinese CB, particularly for mid-career CB given past experience.
In the WTE vs Samir comparison, they are similar ages (at the time of signing) and Samir has played around twice as many games as WTE in a top 5 league. There is reason to be slightly optimistic. Statistically he seems to have been Udinese's best CB this season too (if anyone has watched much of them I would love to know how he does in the eye test).
Fabrizio Romano: Brazilian defender Samir joins Watford from Pozzo family club Udinese. Player was already at Watford training ground today in order to complete the agreement and sign deal. Still nothing decided on Kabasele #WatfordFC Work in progress also for Hassane Kamara from OGC Nice.
This season he has given away 0 penalties and made 0 errors leading to shots or goals (according to SofaScore stats).
