Former sporting director at Italian club Bari, Stefano Antonelli, says that Udinese benefitted from Watford's relegation from the Premier League with the signings of Roberto Pereyra and Gerard Deulofeu this summer.

Pereyra joined Udinese on a permanent basis at the end of September, while Deulofeu moved to the Serie A side on a season-long loan on the final day of the summer transfer window.

Both Watford and Udinese are owned by the Pozzo family, and it seems Antonelli believes their ownership, combined with the Hornets' misfortune in dropping out of the Premier League, made it easy for the Italian club to secure those two deals.

Speaking to TuttoMercatoWeb about Udinese's double signing of the Watford duo, Antonelli said: “The double ownership allows you a unique chance to park players and sometimes it can be a weakness.

“But in this case, it got them Pereyra and Deulofeu, but through a negative. Watford’s relegation to the Championship allowed Udinese to strengthen.”

While Watford currently sit seventh in the Championship standings with seven points from their opening four games of the season, it has been a difficult start to the Serie A season for Udinese.

I Bianconeri currently sit second from bottom in the Italian top-flight table, having failed to pick up a single point from their three league games so far this season.

The Verdict

You can understand the point that Antonelli is trying to make here.

Both Pereyra and Deulofeu are decent players, so you can understand why they would want to keep them to the benefit of one of their clubs, even if they were keen to leave Vicarage Road following Watford's relegation.

As a result, a move to Udinese in Serie A did make sense here, and if they can help I Bianconeri be successful, then that will still be of a benefit to the Pozzo family.

However, you can't help but wonder if things could change next summer, if Watford do force their way back into the Premier League, while Udinese's poor start to the season ultimately ends in relegation.