Edoardo Bove.

“And they say 21, I was supposed to die So I'm out here celebrating my post-demise.” — Jay Z

It looks like Watford are set to close the signing of former Roma and Fiorentina midfielder Edoardo Bove on an initial six-month contract with the option of a further two years. I imagine, given it’s two years, the trigger is appearance and fitness-based due to the circumstances of how this transfer is even possible in the first place, after collapsing on the pitch. In Italy, they don’t allow players with a defibrillator in their body to play football, so Watford are taking the gamble on the 23-year-old Romanista. Throughout online discussions, it’s deemed quite a coup for a second-tier Championship club to pull this off, with help from the ownership, who are Italian, and Valon Behrami, having extensive knowledge of that market, having played there for a substantial time period.

What Jose Mourinho said about Bove:

I call Edoardo Bove a sick dog. He bites, he nips at your heels, he works. He’s an intelligent player. He makes me so happy.

Watford have been in the market for a midfielder as Napalys Mendy is barely getting a look in, and Pierre Dwomoh has been completely frozen out. He should leave the club permanently. Moussa Sissoko is, well, Moussa Sissoko. Edo Kayembe isn’t a sitter or someone who can play in a two, which leaves Hector Kyprianou and Imran Louza. The preference for me would be to bring in a more physically dominant, can do a bit of everything type midfielder, but those cost money. Bove isn’t that, but this is an opportunity you can’t refuse. But what is he actually like as a player?

---

Throughout his youth career, Bove was primarily used as an attacking midfielder, but under Mourinho and then De Rossi, he was deployed as a deeper, complementary midfielder. Then on loan at Fiorentina, Bove was used in a more attacking role, either as the #10 or off the left of a 4-4-2 or a 3-4-3.

Whilst it’s good to know there’s versatility to his game and a coach such as Palladino used him consistently shows the level of player we’re getting here, I don’t think Watford plan to use him in advanced areas. That doesn’t mean he won’t occupy those zones on the field when Watford are in possession. I think he’s again going to be a complementary player for Imran Louza.

Four things stand out when watching Bove play. The first being his style of 1v1 defending is kind of a throwback to how fullbacks used to defend. That Ashley Cole, or to be more modern, Aaron Wan-Bissaka stance. Body low, legs bent, head down, looking at the ball. The reason is that it allows your movements to be quicker should the ball move, and having your knees bent gives you a spring to move quickly. He positions his body at an angle so he can dictate where the attacker is going and then try and get a nick or take the ball with the dominant front foot leg. This way of defending gives you better balance and a higher chance of disrupting the attacker. It’s not a surprise Bove is averaging nearly 3 tackles a game.

Secondly, his use of the ball. It’s almost always exclusively two-touch. Control > release in a quick fashion. Where Kayembe needs the song to finish to pass the ball or do anything with it, Bove would have passed the ball four times by that point. He’s not the most progressive passer by any means, so don’t expect that. He’s a short passer who can play those cute 5-10 yard passes into central areas. He will keep the ball ticking over. It’s a different level of speed to what any of our other midfielders have not named Imran Louza. With Alleyne going, Bove could fill the void of quickly getting the ball to Giorgi.

There are multiple ways this could affect our in-possession build. Three of them being:

Thirdly, He’s an intelligent player. He will scan multiple times and move into space for another player to receive the ball. One of my annoyances with some midfielders is that they just stand there and wait for the ball, or they run towards it. You want to disrupt an opposition defensive structure, you don’t stay central and take one player out of your build-up, which makes it so much easier to defend. You want to pull and make the pitch bigger with gaps. Bove does this by consistently going wide right or pushing up in the pockets of space for another player to then receive the ball.

Finally, a clear weakness. Lack of athleticism and covering large spaces on the turnover. Because the Italian is small in stature, which comes with having small legs, he’s not the quickest over short distances to offset it like a Kante, Mendy, or even someone like Lewis Cook. With the direct, speedy and counterattacking nature of The Championship, this could become an issue if Watford revert back to a 4-4-2. Bove is another player Watford will have who benefits from having three behind him and players close to him, so he can feel comfortable moving the ball, but also comfortable moving off the ball.

The biggest question here will be how Javi will react to not having a physical midfielder that he usually prefers. Kyprianou will still play a lot and has, in the main, had a good season. But you don’t bring in a player like Bove, who Behrami described as a £25m player, for him to barely play any minutes. The 4-2-3-1 shift has worked really well for us. The obvious change with time would be as already outlined, Bove in for Kyprianou. Bove and Louza has the potential to be a really quick, get the ball forward in a good tempo duo in midfield. You don’t want games to be basketball lite though; you either want to counter or try and dominate the ball. The moment space opens up centrally with large gaps to cover is when it becomes problematic, as there isn’t a Capoue and Doucoure partnership to bail that out.