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Will Hughes: Watford complete £8m deal for Derby midfielder

Last updated on .From the section Footballcomments121

Will Hughes
Will Hughes made his Derby debut at 16 and has scored 12 goals for the club

Watford have completed the signing of midfielder Will Hughes from Derby County for £8m on a five-year deal.

Hughes made 165 Championship appearances for the Rams.

The 22-year-old is currently on international duty with England's Under-21 squad at the European Championships in Poland and will join the Hornets squad on his return.

He is the first signing made by the Premier League club since Marco Silva was appointed manager on 27 May.

Silva succeeded Walter Mazzarri at Vicarage Road, with the Italian dismissed before the final league match of a season in which the Hornets finished 17th.

Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.

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121 comments

  • Comment posted by Martarslipstick, at 17:55 24 Jun 2017

    What a shock- A Premier League club has signed a young english player from the "lower" leagues and not a player from abroad-and it's Watford!

  • Comment posted by MTsouls, at 17:35 24 Jun 2017

    For a player of his age he is a good buy. Talk of clubs bigger than Watford always wide of the mark. This is an opportunity for him to show he can cut it at the top level, then we'll see what happens.

  • Comment posted by woodyc1995, at 17:29 24 Jun 2017

    Good signing. Good price. Will Hughes always does the job for me on Football Manager.

  • Comment posted by lglater, at 18:04 24 Jun 2017

    Interesting signing for Watford. Nice to see them sign a young player with potential rather than the mediocre PL players like Cleverly and Kaboul. Not wan unreasonable price either when you think Villa paid £12m for Ross McCormack!

  • Comment posted by SW1701, at 18:17 24 Jun 2017

    I think its better for him as a player, had he gone to Liverpool or someone, he wouldn't get much game time in the Premier League and would probably be forced to be loaned out by January. With Watford though he'll surely play a few games. As a Watford season ticket holder, Im pretty excited to see him and hopefully he ignores the pressure and price tag in a bigger league.

  • Comment posted by David_Attenbourough, at 17:33 24 Jun 2017

    pretty sure just a few years ago the Derby chairman said he was the next best English midfielder, and would only be sold for over 50m..... how times change eh.

  • Comment posted by Misstra Misstra, at 18:24 24 Jun 2017

    Another Forest fan, he is decent player seems to have stood still for a while he should have been playing top flight football for at least a couple of years if he was a Spanish kid he'd have been snapped up for a lot of money when he was 19.

  • Comment posted by Y0U, at 18:05 24 Jun 2017

    Hope he's given the chance to prove himself in the Premier League. Has gotten a good reputation for a gifted lad.

  • Comment posted by NeutralRed, at 06:37 25 Jun 2017

    Excellent value and wish him well.

    Liverpool were interested a few seasons ago - which would have then inflated his price.

    Mad prices being paid by the top 6 when gems of similar quality available locally. Well done Watford.

  • Comment posted by Hughmungus, at 08:48 25 Jun 2017

    Decent player who suffered badly from a nasty injury a year or so ago.

    One or two stupid comments on here about him being lightweight !!! Yeah, like David Silva knocks people about and rushes round putting tackles in. This lad can pick a pass.

    Watford have got a bargain. If they can develop him further, he'll do well for them.

  • Comment posted by noelf, at 22:10 24 Jun 2017

    Great value given the ridiculous sums of money being bandied about these days. A lot of 22 year old midfielders are being touted around at 20, 30 million upwards. There is no way this guy will be only 20 to 25% the player that these other players will be.

  • Comment posted by jjh87, at 09:03 25 Jun 2017

    Pleased that he has ended up at Watford. Better he gets some games instead of going to a big club and sitting on bench/the stands

  • Comment posted by D1710747204117, at 18:03 24 Jun 2017

    9RKT

    Give it a rest and stop knocking the club. Derby did very well for Will Hughes but he is one of a mass of players who have more than had their chances, and the 8 million will give the opportunity to recruit

    Gary Rowett needs everyone to support the club

  • Comment posted by GeezerTheHornet - save 606, at 09:05 25 Jun 2017

    An English player! Get in!!!

  • Comment posted by validata, at 18:52 24 Jun 2017

    A very good young player who makes people play around him and is not afraid to leave his foot in.

    Can only get better

    Good luck to Watford

  • Comment posted by User0551457415, at 18:36 24 Jun 2017

    Good to see Watford goon in early to get what they need. Strong, young signing. All the best.

  • Comment posted by Pochgician, at 21:28 24 Jun 2017

    Great move. Should be a solid addition to Watford's midfield. Always nice to see homegrown players moving up the leagues into the PL. Maybe Derby could have done more to secure a higher fee for Hughes though.

  • Comment posted by Watford Dave, at 19:20 24 Jun 2017

    Great signing, welcome to Herts, Will.

  • Comment posted by MrClayhead, at 18:22 24 Jun 2017

    Interesting signing by Watford. Good luck to the lad.

  • Comment posted by Albertboy83, at 22:09 24 Jun 2017

    8 million, a give away price, thought they might of asked for 12-15 million, still been cheap. Should do well, wasn't going anywhere at Derby.

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