Watford FC urged to find "upgrade" on "very frustrating" Hornets star | OneFootball

Vakoun Bayo has struggled to make an impact after rejoining the club from Udinese this summer

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

With five points separating themselves and the play-off places with just eight matches of the Championship season remaining, Watford will still maintain slim hopes of breaking into the top six before the campaign comes to a close.

Tom Cleverley’s side have proven a number of pre-season doubters wrong in the way they have battled in the top half of the table for much of the last seven months, although some patchy form since the turn of the year has seen any promotion hopes all but fall by the wayside.

The Vicarage Road faithful will likely be pointing the finger in a number of directions for a scapegoat as they drop into mid-table, with off-field issues hampering things as much as performances on the pitch, where results have been anything but ideal over the past few months.

With that in mind, we asked Football League World’s Watford fan pundit Justin Beattie which one Hornets player needs to improve, after failing to impress throughout the season.

Vakoun Bayo demand made as Watford play-off dreams crumble

A lack of goals has hampered Watford’s push for the top six this season, with the Hornets netting just nine times in their last eleven league matches, in which they have won just three times.

Vakoun Bayo is the club’s top scorer with ten league goals this season, but after a purple patch in November where he netted six times in four matches, the frontman has been underwhelming in the final third for much of the campaign.

Having given the fanbase a brief glimpse of what he can do with a four-goal haul in a freak 6-2 victory over Sheffield Wednesday that month, the striker has netted just once in his last 15 league matches, while also adding to his poor reputation with a sending off against Norwich City for violent conduct.

With 20 goals from 97 league appearances during his time as a Hornet, it is no surprise that Beattie has earmarked the misfiring Udinese loanee as a player who could offer more to the team, with the Watford fan counting down the days until they never see him again.

When asked about a player who is underperforming in the team, Beattie said: “I think Vakoun Bayo is a player who has always looked like he could do with improvement.

“He is a very frustrating forward to watch, and he is only contracted until the end of the season, where he should be going back to his parent club Udinese.

“I hope during the summer we find an upgrade on him and he doesn’t end up being loaned back to us, because I think Watford fans are frustrated at watching him.”

Vakoun Bayo potential questioned as Watford, Udinese consider future

Bayo was officially on the books at Watford from the summer of 2022, before following the oft-frequented route of moving to Serie A side Udinese from Vicarage Road last summer, as the two Pozzo family owned clubs swap and change players at will.

While a loan move back to Hertfordshire was agreed for the 24/25 campaign, Bayo has hardly set the world alight this season, with his last goal coming in a 1-1 draw with Cardiff City back in mid-January.

At the age of 28 and having signed a four-year deal in Italy last summer, Beattie has his doubts whether the frontman will get any better in the years to come, and has everything crossed that the two clubs don’t repeat the deal in the upcoming summer transfer window.

“I am not sure he can actually be improved, because he is now in his prime and I don’t think he offers anything to us as a team.

“I think when he has been coming on as a substitute recently, arguably you could say he has not improved us, or perhaps made us look a bit worse going forward.

“He is a very frustrating player, someone that needs to go back to his parent club in the summer and hopefully not return. I think Watford fans have seen enough of him now.”