Watford added Scottish defender Porteous to their ranks last January, bringing him in from Hibernian. The 24-year-old has played 42 times for the Hornets since, locking down a place in the starting XI under Valerien Ismael this season.
He arrived with a contract that would have expired in the summer of 2027, but it now appears like he could transfer to sister club Udinese.
According to a recent report from Sky Sports, should a player from a foreign club turn out to be unavailable, Udinese may try to bring Porteous to the Serie A. Given that the two teams share ownership, a transfer would probably be quite simple to complete. However, Watford would be sad to lose a player who has started 21 Championship games this season.
Center-back choices
Watford may be severely short on options at the defence if Porteous is pursued by sister club Udinese. At Vicarage Road, the Scot is surrounded by Mattie Pollock, Wesley Hoedt, and Francisco Sierralta, the other natural centre backs.
Furthermore, it is reported that the aforementioned Pollock asked to be transferred away due to his restricted playing time. Ismael would have just two senior centre backs if Porteous was traded to Serie A and he was given permission to go.
Watford has to stay away from that, especially with the January transfer market being so difficult to navigate with less than a week left. Ismael’s go-to player this season has been Porteous, so losing him midway through the season would be devastating and make it difficult to find a replacement in the last hours of the transfer market.
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