Watford have had their fair share of excellent strikers in recent years, and one particular Brazilian teenager proved to be a brilliant addition back in 2018.
The Hornets’ extensive scouting has resulted in numerous unproven English football forwards being signed and going on to become hits at Vicarage Road in the modern era, including Odion Ighalo, Matej Vydra, and Emmanuel Dennis, but the 2018 acquisition of Joao Pedro will be remembered fondly for a variety of reasons.
Pedro was transferred by hometown club Fluminense before he had even made his senior debut, as the club reached a deal with Watford in October 2018 to bring the then-17-year-old to the Hertfordshire club in January 2020.
In 2019, Premier League clubs Liverpool and Manchester United expressed interest in signing him, but the deal with the Hornets was not completed.
Pedro joined Watford and became a key player there for three years before being sold to Brighton & Hove Albion for a significant profit last summer.
Watford beat Liverpool and Manchester United to Joao Pedro
The Hornets had seemingly stolen a march on any competitors for Pedro’s signature in 2018, when they announced that he had agreed to join the club from January 2020 on a five-year deal worth an apparent initial £2m, but they still had to fight off interest from bigger clubs prior to his contract with Fluminense running out.
The Daily Mail reported in May 2019 that Liverpool had made enquiries over signing the teenager after their scouts had watched him score a hat-trick for Fluminense in a 4-1 win over Atletico Nacional, while Manchester United had also done the same.
The catch there, though, was that a clause in his contract said that should the planned move to Watford falter, then the Vicarage Road side must be paid £20 million by the rival club, so Liverpool or United in this case.
That meant that, while they each may well have been seriously interested in his signature, Watford’s planning ahead proved to be a stroke of genius, as they were never likely to pay a fee to another English club, and especially one that dwarfed the initial asking price for his services.
Watford will be thrilled that they were able to recruit Pedro ahead of some stiff competition, and their decision will undoubtedly be vindicated in the coming seasons.
He struggled to adjust to life in the Premier League in 2019/20, with the COVID pandemic delaying his debut until June and Watford being relegated to the Championship a month later, but the second division proved to be a blessing in disguise for his Hornets career.
Pedro scored his first goal for the club against Luton Town on his 19th birthday in October 2020. He went on to score nine goals and four assists in 40 appearances that season, helping the team win promotion back to the top-flight in second place under Xisco Munoz.
In 2021/22, he scored huge goals against Manchester United and Newcastle United, but was unable to assist the Hornets avoid relegation. Despite attention from Everton and Newcastle, he remained at Vicarage Road.
In 2022/23, he had the most productive season of his career to that point, with 11 goals and four assists in 35 league games, and he captained the club on numerous occasions throughout the campaign as they struggled to mount a promotion challenge and eventually finished 11th in the second tier, implying an exit.
| Joao Pedro’s Watford record | |
|---|---|
| Appearances | 109 |
| Goals | 24 |
| Assists | 9 |
| Stats as per Transfermarkt | |
Brighton’s interest in him was long-standing, and his move to the south coast was sealed in May of last year for a reported sum of £30 million. He has gone from strength-to-strength with the Seagulls, so he must be worth a lot more today.
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