Watford line up former Flying Eagles skipper Isaac Success as a replacement for Ighalo

ENGLISH Premiership side Watford are planning to purchase Nigerian striker Isaac Success from Granada in the Spanish La Liga as a replacement for compatriot Odion Ighalo who is certain to leave at the end of the season.

 

One of the revelations of the season, Ighalo is the third top scorer in the English Premier League with 14 goals so far. His red hot form has attracted the attention of numerous big clubs, including the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City and Watford are resigned to the fact that they will be unable to retain his services.

 

Watford manager Sanchez Flores has thus decided to turn his attention to Success having slapped a £20m transfer fee ion Ighalo. Granada and Watford are owned by the same Italian family, so Success's transfer to England is expected to sail through without any hiccups once he gets a work permit.

 

Flores said: “Watford wants Isaac Success as he is a very good player. He has power and has the physical characteristics to play in England but he’s younger and we need to think about the future of this player, or if we have the possibility of this player in the future.

 

“We have been checking players for a long time because it’s necessary if we want to be right at the moment to select a player. I understand everyone is talking about the future of some players in Watford but for me it’s necessary to keep calm and to trust the players."

 

Ighalo himself moved to Watford from Granada in 2014 and although the club are keen to retain his services, they know this will be hard. Success himself has been the subject of attention lately but was unable to complete a £9m move to Spartak Moscow during the January transfer window.

 

Meanwhile, Ighalo has suggested that his team’s achievements this season would have received more recognition but for the emergence of Leicester. He added: “Leicester are flying now but if  they were not doing what they are doing now, I think people would be talking more about Watford because we have really done great this season, too.

 

"We don’t want to stop, we want to keep doing well. Seeing Leicester on top of the league by five points is great for the league and shows that with hard work and dedication you can achieve what you want to achieve.”

 

Success was a former Flying Eagles captain and like Ighalo, is seen as the future of the Super Eagles. head coach Sunday Oliseh is expected to name both of them in his squad for the forthcoming African Nations Cup qualifier against Egypt next month alongside the likes of West Ham's Victor Moses, Kelechi Iheanacho of Manchester City and Alex Iwobi of Arsenal.