Watford
Watford head coach Xisco Munoz said that Will Hughes remains in a stalemate with the club over a new contract after Crystal Palace had a £5m bid for the midfielder rejected football.London revealed Palace’s interest in signing the 26-year-old after negotiations over a new five-year contract at Vicarage Road had broken down. The former Derby County midfielder, who has one year remaining on his contract, was offered a wage rise as part of the new deal but the Hornets’ offer did not meet his expectations. He had been training with Watford’s Under-23s ahead of the start of the Premier League season as a result of the impasse and will not be involved in their game away to Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday afternoon. Palace head coach Patrick Vieira remains interested despite the south London club having an initial bid knocked back. Aston Villa have also registered their interest in the former England underage international. Speaking at a press conference to preview the Brighton game, Munoz said that there is little he can do to alter the standoff.
Xisco Munoz said: “I know it’s the same situation,” Munoz said. “It sometimes happens when the agent and clubs speak about a situation. At the moment we wait and we will see what happens. I don’t know about Will. Sometimes you know these situations in football. It’s normal to have these situations at all clubs to have this. We’ll see what happens. Right now it’s with the agent and the club. I don’t know the decision of this situation.”
When asked about the futures of Hughes and former Chelsea midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah, who is also in the last year of his contract, Munoz stated that there were difficulties between Watford and the players’ agents.
Xisco Munez added: “I don’t know because the agents have a problem with the club. That’s the first thing. And after for the next season I don’t know what is the idea of Chalo or what is the idea of Will. I don’t know what they want, what the agents want. This is the situation. We’ll see in the future. We didn’t know about what will happen. We will see.”
Palace have already signed five players this summer with the squad being overhauled sporting director Dougie Freedman. The likes of Gary Cahill, Patrick van Aanholt, Scott Dann and Andros Townsend have been allowed to leave on free transfers following the expiration of their contracts, with Palace making an active effort to reduce the average age and wage of the team. Michael Olise, Marc Guehi and Joachim Andersen have all joined the club on long-term deals, while Conor Gallagher sealed a one-year loan from Chelsea and Remi Matthews joined as back-up goalkeeper to Vicente Guaita and Jack Butland.
