Watford have binned all bids for Ismaila Sarr and the Senegal winger will not be sold in this transfer window - in a huge blow to Steven Gerrard's transfer plans at Aston Villa.
Although the Hornets reluctantly accepted Villa's £25million bid with up to £5m in add-on clauses at the weekend, in a shock development Mirror Football understands the move is now OFF.
And instead of getting their money back on a player for whom they paid out a club record £27m three years ago, Watford are laying the groundwork to offer Sarr a new contract to stay at Vicarage Road for the long term.
Sarr, 24, has been linked with a host of Premier League clubs – including Manchester United, Leeds, Crystal Palace and Everton – over the summer. And after Nigerian striker Emmanuel Dennis joined Nottingham Forest for £20m last week, it was widely assumed Sarr would follow him out of the door as Watford seek to absorb the financial impact of relegation.
When Sarr was left out of the matchday squad for Saturday's 0-0 draw at Preston - despite him travelling to Deepdale - the Hornets appeared to be protecting one of their prize assets ahead of an imminent deal with Villa. But Sarr, who knuckled down to become Watford's top scorer with 13 goals when they were relegated two seasons ago, and bounced back to the top flight at the first attempt, has indicated to the club's hierarchy that he is prepared to fight for promotion again.
A high-level source said Sarr would “definitely” be staying beyond this transfer window, Watford will “not entertain any bids” for him now and there is “potential for contract discussions” in the coming months. While the U-turn on Sarr's availability is a massive boost for new head coach Rob Edwards, Brazilian forward Joao Pedro's future at Vicarage Road is less certain. Newcastle have already had two bids of £20m and £23m for Pedro rejected out of hand, but the world's richest club can afford to crank up their offers until Watford's resistance cracks.
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Neither Sarr nor Pedro featured in at Deepdale at the weekend, although Edwards claimed after the match it was nothing to do with transfer business. He said: "We had to make a couple of changes and we were unlucky with Joao just feeling his calf from the Birmingham game. He was uncomfortable with his calf, and he had it scanned and he wasn’t right for the match. Ismaïla trained and was meant to play today, but between us and him we weren’t fully confident, even though he travelled up here wanting to play.
"We had to make a couple of changes and that’s something that really pleased me - the adaptability of the players. That’s what the squad is about. We are going to have to make changes because we have 46 matches. There will be injuries and suspensions, so you have to come together because we are all in it together as a group.”
