Watford's Championship rivals have been left angered by a transaction involving defender Hassane Kamara.
The centre-half has been sold to Udinese but immediately loaned back to the Hornets for the remainder of the season. The Italian club are owned by the Pozzo family, who also own the Vicarage Road outfit. Kamara moved for £16m - some £12m more than he was signed for in January.
He will also be playing his football in England's second tier for the foreseeable as the top brass at Watford utilise their ownership of two clubs effectively. The move does not breach any EFL or UEFA rules covering multi-club ownership.
Kamara was a strong performer for the Hornets last term and will bolster their bid to return to the Premier League under new manager Rob Edwards. Their financial boost also helps them following relegation, but it has not gone down well with their rivals.
"The system is open to abuse," a senior Championship club official told the Daily Mail. "One hundred percent, they are working the system to gain an advantage. If the EFL want to do something about the integrity of the competition then that's what they should be looking at. A lot of clubs talk about it."
Watford were able to bounce back to the Premier League at the first time of asking two seasons ago and have a squad capable of doing so once more. They've got nine points from a possible 15, but remain unbeaten and sit second in the table. Currently, they're trying to fend off interest in star man Ismaila Sarr.
Aston Villa are among those keen but keeping the forward will bolster Watford's chances of promotion. The Pozzo family purchased Watford in 2012 and deals between them and Udinese have happened on a regular basis. Edwards insists, despite the latest boost to Watfords' promotion hopes, that he is not under any promotion remit having been hired in the summer.
“Nobody has told me we have to do anything,” he told the Watford Observer. “I have my own ambitions and the players have theirs, and I’m sure the supporters do too. Everyone wants to get promoted. I’m not going to hide away from that, but what I will say is I know how big that challenge is.
“Nothing is a given. We were in the Premier League last season but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to bounce back up. However, we have some very, very good players and we’ll be competitive. I think we are in good shape, but there’s probably a dozen other clubs saying the same thing.”
