WATFORD HAVE SIGNED Etienne Capoue from Tottenham Hotspur for a club-record fee on a four-year contract. The fee is reportedly in the region of £6m.
The 26-year-old midfielder joined Spurs from Toulouse in 2013 after being nominated for Ligue 1′s young player of the year award. At that stage, he had already made almost 200 first-team appearances for the French club and had a growing reputation. Since joining Spurs, he has managed just 24 appearances over two seasons.
He had been expected to leave during the January transfer window but potential reported deals fell through. Watford will be hoping Capoue, who has been capped seven times by his country, can repay the faith they’ve shown in him by rebuilding his career at the newly promoted side. Watford’s previous transfer fee record was the purchase of Nathan Ellington, a £3.25m signing from West Brom.
Capoue is the Hornet’s fifth signing this summer after deals for striker Matej Vydra, defender Sebastian Prodl, goalkeeper Giedrius Arlauskis and full-back Jose Holebas. They also have a new man in the driving seat after Slavisa Jokanovic, the man who guided them to automatic promotion, failed to agree a new contract. Former Atletico Madrid manager Quique Sánchez Flores is now the man tasked with keeping them up.