[themaclad]

Watford have signed forward Danish forward Mileta Rajovic from Swedish club Kalmar for an undisclosed fee.

The 24-year-old has agreed a five-year contract at Vicarage Road and the Hornets say he will offer a "towering, physical presence" to their front line.

He is Watford's seventh summer signing but the first since midfielder Giorgi Chakvetadze arrived on 2 August.

Rajovic has been given the number nine shirt and could make his debut in Saturday's home game against Blackburn.

He began his career with Brondby and Randers but made a major impact at Naestved Boldklub, scoring 30 goals in 58 matches.

The move to Kalmar followed in December last year and he has scored eight goals in 22 appearances in the ongoing Allsvenskan campaign.

"During the last two days, the dialogue has been increasingly intense and we have now agreed on a permanent transfer for Mileta," Kalmar head of sports Jorgen Petersson told the club website.

"If we look at the financial settlement, this is one of Kalmar FF's biggest transfers."

He added: "He trains hard and purposefully to get better every day, which pays off. Although there were those who expressed doubts around him when he was signed, he quickly showed that he would become an important part of Kalmar FF."

[themaclad]

Ben Manga
Ben Manga was previously Eintracht Frankfurt's director of professional football
Watford technical director Ben Manga has left the Championship club after just 10 months in the role.

Manga, 49, arrived at Vicarage Road after over six years in various roles for German club Eintracht Frankfurt.

A club statement said head coach Valerien Ismael now had "a wider managerial remit to influence the footballing set-up around him".

Ismael was appointed in May and given a contract extension earlier this month despite a poor start to the season.

Watford are 20th in the table having won just two of their first 11 games of the campaign.

Manga played for various German clubs and for Equatorial Guinea in international football.

He has also worked as a scout for 1899 Hoffenheim and Vfb Stuttgart.

[Lord Snooty]

Odd goings on at Watford. They sack managers every month when they're doing well.

Then a manager takes them to 20th in the Championship and they give him an extension. 

[themaclad]

Odd really odd

[themaclad]

Watford midfielder Imran Louza has joined French club Lorient on loan for the rest of the season.

Louza, 24, joined the Hornets from Nantes in 2021 and has made 17 appearances this season, the most recent coming in the FA Cup this month.

Lorient are currently bottom of France's Ligue 1, with only 12 points from 18 games played, under head coach Regis le Bris.

They won promotion to the top flight in 2020 and finished 10th last season.

[themaclad]

Watford have re-signed former striker Emmanuel Dennis from Turkish club Basaksehir on loan until the end of the Championship season.

Dennis scored 10 goals in 33 matches during Watford's season in the Premier League in 2021-22 and moved to Nottingham Forest in August 2022.

He netted twice in 19 top-flight games for Forest before a loan move in September to Basaksehir in Istanbul.

The Nigeria forward, 26, has also had spells in Belgium and Germany.

He is the club's first signing of the transfer window and arrives with the Hornets ninth in the table, three points outside the play-off places.

[themaclad]

Championship side Watford have turned the loan signing of Giorgi Chakvetadze into a permanent switch.

The Georgia international, 24, initially joined the Hornets on a season's loan from Belgian club Gent in August.

But the midfielder, who has played 25 times for Watford and scored once, has now agreed to stay at Vicarage Road permanently.

Before moving to England, he had loan spells in Germany and Slovakia.

However, of Chakvetadze's 23 Championship appearances for Watford, just seven of them have been as a starter.

[themaclad]

Watford full-back Jeremy Ngakia has signed a three-year contract extension with the Championship club, while former England international Jake Livermore is among three players to be released.

Ngakia, 23, who also has a further 12-month club option on his deal, has made 69 league appearances for the Hornets since joining from West Ham United in the summer of 2020.

Injuries limited him to only 15 appearances in the 2023-24 season.

Meanwhile, 34-year-old former Tottenham Hotspur, Hull City and West Bromwich Albion midfielder Livermore leaves Vicarage Road after one season.

He leaves alongside 36-year-old goalkeeper Ben Hamer, who made 21 of his 22 appearances for Watford this season, and 28-year-old forward Ashley Fletcher.

Fletcher last featured for Watford in January 2022, having gone out on loan to New York Red Bulls, Wigan Athletic and Sheffield Wednesday in the past two years.

[themaclad]

Watford have re-signed goalkeeper Jonathan Bond on a one-year contract, with an option for a further 12 months.

The 31-year-old has been a free agent since leaving US Major League Soccer side LA Galaxy in February.

Bond began his career Vicarage Road, coming through the academy and making 33 first-team appearances before joining Reading in 2015.

"It is very nostalgic to come back here and see some familiar faces; making the drive back into the training ground was a nice moment," he told the club website., external

"This club gave me my start in the game. I have gone on to have lots of different experiences at different clubs around England and abroad as well.

"So, to come back now with the experience that I have had, I am more ready. I can hopefully provide a lot of help to the first team, and help bring success."

Bond's return fills the gap left by the release of Ben Hamer, who played 21 games last season but has now joined Sheffield Wednesday.

[themaclad]

Watford have signed Celtic forward Rocco Vata on a four-year contract.

The Hornets will have to pay compensation for the 19-year-old, who made six substitute appearances for Celtic's first team and scored in a 5-0 Scottish Cup win over Buckie Thistle in January.

The son of former defender Rudi Vata, he joined the Scottish champions aged seven and is a Republic of Ireland youth international.

Vata's deal at Vicarage Road includes an option for a further 12 months and he is Watford's second summer signing following goalkeeper Jonathan Bond.

They will start the new Championship season with a lunchtime kick-off away to Millwall on 10 August.