That’s according to Victor Lessa, who believes the Hornets are set to recruit Fluminense defender Kayky Almeida.
The Championship club have already strengthened their central defence by signing Antonio Tikvic on loan from Udinese, with Tom Cleverley potentially set to go with a back three again next term
With this in mind, the Hornets need to have as many central defenders at their disposal as possible.
Cleverley’s side have also strengthened other areas, with Mamadou Doumbia being signed for this summer, Jonathan Bond arriving as a backup goalkeeping option, Rocco Vata coming in from Celtic and Moussa Sissoko being re-signed.
The Hornets’ results during pre-season haven’t been the best, but they showed some promise under their current manager during the latter stages of last term and that will give fans some hope heading into the 2024/25 campaign.
Still having more than a month left to strengthen his squad, the former Manchester United midfielder may be keen to strengthen his team further before the window closes.
Details emerge as Watford set to sign Kayky Almeida
The Hornets are now thought to be closing in on Almeida.
According to reporter Lessa, negotiations are now at the final stage, with the Brazilian club set to include a 20% sell-on clause in the deal.
It’s thought that the Hornets are set to pay €1m to recruit the player, who could help the Hornets to generate a healthy profit in the future.
This fee is a tiny chunk of the amount that the club received from the sale of Ismael Kone, with the Canadian’s move to France potentially set to give the club the opportunity to fork out on transfer fees for more additions before the end of the window.
Kayky Almeida’s career so far
Born in May 2005, Almeida has recently turned 19 and looks set to be one for the future for the Hornets, if he isn’t ready to make a first-team impact straight away.
Mainly plying his trade for Fluminense’s U20 side, he has only made one appearance for the senior team, with his limited experience one potential drawback of signing him.
| Kayky Almeida’s career statistics (Source: Transfermarkt) | |
|---|---|
| Team | Appearances |
| Fluminense U20 | 26 |
| Fluminense | 1 |
However, he’s still very young and may now be in the process of making the step up to the first team, having appeared on the bench a number of times.
Almeida will have been upset not to have played more of a role in the club’s Copa Libertadores win, but he can be pleased about the fact he’s now in and around the first team.
Watford’s decision to sign Kayky Almeida could pay dividends
Joao Pedro (pictured above) is a young Brazilian who proved to be a major success at Vicarage Road – and has since gone on to shine for Brighton and Hove Albion.
Although the Hornets would have been sad to lose a player of Pedro’s quality, they were able to make a big profit on him and his sale could have helped to boost the club’s budget for this summer.
Pedro actually came in from Almeida’s current side – and the Hornets will be hoping that the latter can be just as much of a success.
Even if he isn’t, the player could still be sold on for a profit.
It will be interesting to see if he makes an instant impact and how much of an asset he can be in Hertfordshire.
