Barnsley have launched a move for Watford forward Stipe Perica with the Tykes having made an offer believed to be in the region of £1.5 million for him, according to The Athletic.

It is being reported by The Athletic that Barnsley view the 25-year-old forward as a potential replacement for the departing Daryl Dike this summer. That comes with the striker having only just arrived at Vicarage Road last summer from Udinese and helping the club earn promotion to the Premier League.

The Athletic report that Watford are set to allow him to leave the club this summer after he struggled to make a major impact for them in the Championship last term.

That comes after The 25-year-old managed to make just 16 league appearances for them and scored just one goal which came in a 1-1 draw against Bournemouth back in October.

It is believed that Barnsley’s opening bid for Perica was in the region of £1.5 million and that negotiations are continuing between the two parties as they try and sort out a deal that would take Perica to Oakwell this summer.

The verdict

This would be a gamble from Barnsley given that Perica did not manage to hit the ground running in the Championship last season with Watford. However, the Tykes have been very astute with their transfer business in recent times, and Carlton Morris has been a signing that has proven to work out far better than a lot of people would have thought after he arrived in January.

Whoever Barnsley brought into replace Dike was always going to face a huge job in terms of adding that same amount of threat as the 20-year-old did for the Tykes. Perica is a player that will know he has a real point to prove and maybe Valerien Ismael is banking on that being the thing that drives him on to enjoy a promising campaign with Barnsley.

Perica is a player that does know the league now having made 16 appearances with Watford. He can be a real handful if he gets the right sort of service and the way that the Tykes play under Ismael should be well-suited to his physical attributes. This then is a bit of a gamble that could actually pay off quite handsomely for Barnsley.