New Watford head coach Walter Mazzarri has scoured his native Italy to sign Juventus midfielder Roberto Pereyra for an undisclosed fee, believed to be worth up to £13 million.
The 25-year-old has penned a five-year contract with the Hornets, and could make his debut against Arsenal on Saturday.
The History
Pereyra’s career began at River Plate in Argentina, where he made his professional debut in May 2009 at the age of 18. Over the following two seasons, he would make a further 44 appearances for Los Millonarios, registering four assists, although he failed to find the back of the net.
In August 2011, Pereyra joined Italian side Udinese, and took some time to settle in Serie A, managing just 11 appearances in the 2011/12 campaign, delivering a single goal and assist. The following season saw Pereyra establish himself as a regular starter, featuring in 37 matches, while he totalled five goals and two assists.
He enjoyed another strong campaign in 2013/14, scoring twice and notching six assists in 36 league outings, with his form culminating in the Argentine securing a season-long loan deal to Juventus for 2014/15, with a view to a permanent transfer.
Pereyra featured regularly, chalking up 35 league appearances, scoring four times and claiming three assists, helping the Bianconeri secure another Serie A title. Last summer, Juventus made the move permanent in a deal worth around €14 million, but Pereyra struggled for playing time last term, largely due to injuries, only managing 13 league appearances, registering just one assist in terms of attacking returns.
The midfielder represented Argentina four times at Under 20 level, before making his senior debut against Brazil in October 2014. He has played for his country 10 times, but has yet to score at international level.
The Prospects
With Mazzarri having used his favoured 3-5-2 formation in Watford’s opening two Premier League matches, Pereyra appears perfectly suited to one of the two more advanced central midfield roles, with the Italian boss having used Valon Behrami as the holding midfielder thus far. The Argentine played in both of these systems during his time with Udinese and Juventus, and should fit in with little difficulty.
He could take Adlene Guedioura’s spot in Mazzarri’s first choice starting XI, then, with Etienne Capoue looking assured of a starting berth having scored in both matches so far this season, although he did pick up a calf injury during the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea.
Pereyra did feature in a number of different positions during his time in Italy though, and is versatile enough to operate on either flank or even in a central support role if Mazzarri tinkered to a 3-5-1-1.
The 25-year-old’s strengths lie in his crossing and dribbling ability, and he impressively averaged a key pass every 31.9 minutes last term, with Guedioura currently leading the way among Watford’s midfielders so far this season with a key pass every 80.5 minutes.
The Argentinian international may not offer a huge goal threat, though, having averaged a goal attempt every 79.8 minutes in 2015/16, with Guedioura (53.7) and Capoue (59.7) both bettering the former Juventus player in that aspect so far this season.
In terms of playing style, he has been likened to Napoli’s Marek Hamsik, and should he be able to perform near to the Slovakian midfielder’s level, Mazzarri would clearly have a big talent on his hands.
The downside regarding Pereyra’s Fantasy prospects is that fact he’s likely to be priced at around 5.5 or 6.0 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), far more expensive than both Capoue (4.6) and Guedioura (4.5). While he appears to have superior quality on the ball and is more comortable in the final third than those two players, he may struggle to justify that extra outlay.
With Watford’s upcoming schedule (ARS, whm, MUN) very unfavourable, FPL bosses will have the chance to assess Pereyra’s early performances in the Premier League before realistically considering him as a viable option as the Hornets fixtures ease dramatically from Gameweek 6 onwards (bur, BOU, mid, swa, HUL).
While Pereyra arrives in England with a strong reputation, it remains to be seen if he can adapt to the English game, and more importantly, put his fitness concerns behind him. His price tag may also prove prohibitive to his Fantasy appeal, with Troy Deeney or Odion Ighalo likely to be the primary option from the Hornets attack once their schedules improves.
Pereyra will certainly be worth monitoring then, but if Capoue can continue to offer a goal threat, he’ll be hard pushed to offer similar value unless he comes in cheaper than anticipated.
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