Watford are on the verge of adding another right-back to their ranks in the form of Manchester United's Ethan Laird, the Manchester Evening News have revealed.

It was reported last week that the Hornets were in talks to land the 20-year-old on a season-long loan deal, with Laird needing regular game-time to continue his development.

And now Rob Edwards' side have secured an agreement to take Laird, where he will presumably slot into the right wing-back position of the young head coach's 3-5-2 formation.

It will be the third Championship loan spell of Laird's career, with both others coming last season.

Laird spent the first half of the 2021-22 campaign on loan at Swansea City, where he notched three assists in 20 outings before the hierarchy at Old Trafford decided to recall him and send him to promotion-chasing AFC Bournemouth.

His time on the south coast though did not work out, appearing just six times under Scott Parker in the second half of the campaign.

The Verdict

Laird is definitely more in the mould of a Rob Edwards signing, unlike the other right-back addition at Watford this week in Villarreal's Mario Gaspar.

The Manchester United man will bomb up and down the right flank and put in crosses for the attackers - much like Kane Wilson did for Rob Edwards when he was the manager of Forest Green Rovers.

There was a slight chance that Laird could have been offered first-team football this season by Erik Ten Hag due to United's lack of options at right-back.

It appears though that with Diogo Dalot being handed the starting spot, Laird needs to go elsewhere to continue on his upward trajectory, and he should be a good signing for Watford judging from what he was able to do at Swansea.