Watford accused of ‘working the system’ after £16M Hassane Kamara deal with sister club Udinese

Championship clubs are unimpressed by the sale-and-return deal for defender Hassane Kamara between Watford and its Italian sister club, Udinese, because they fear it will give the Hornets an unfair advantage in the promotion race.

Watford have sold the left back to their Italian counterparts for £16M, a mark up of more than £12M on what the Hornets paid for the player as recently as January.

The deal between the two clubs, which are both owned by the Pozzo family, gives Watford a valuable cash boost as they seek to stabilise their finances following relegation from the Premier League and as they bid to make a rapid return to the top flight.

The fee is well above the player’s market valuation of £3.6M, reported by Transfermarkt, and the cash may enable manager Rob Edwards to hold on to prized asset, forward Ismaila Sarr and even strengthen the squad further.

But in addition, Kamara, a top performer for Watford in 19 games last season, was immediately loaned back to the Hornets from the Serie A outfit, so he will also be available to compete for a full season in the Championship.

The move does not breach any EFL or UEFA rules covering multi club ownership, but that does not pacify Watford’s competitors.

‘The system is open to abuse,’ said a senior Championship club official spoken to by Sportsmail. ‘One hundred percent, they are working the system to gain an advantage. If the EFL want to do something about the integrity of the competition then that’s what they should be looking at. A lot of clubs talk about it.’

Giampaulo Pozzo has owned Udinese since 1986 and his son, Gino Pozzo, rescued Watford when he bought the club from Laurence Bassini in 2012. Since then there has been a busy exchange of players between the two clubs, with more than 60 transfers during the decade.

Following Watford’s last relegation from the top flight in the summer of 2020, three players Gerard Deulofeu, Roberto Pereyra and Ignacio Pussetto were shipped out on loan to the Italian club. 

Deulofeu was subsequently bought by Udinese in the January transfer window of the 2020-21 season for £15M.

Kamara signed for Watford from Nice for a reported £4M in January and while the left back failed to prevent the club going down, he still picked up the Player of the Season Award. 

He has played four matches for Watford this term, missing one game through suspension, in a solid start to the club’s campaign. They sit in second place in the league table, one point behind Sheffield United.

Watford chairman and CEO, Scott Duxbury, told the club website: ‘This further protects the club at a time when balancing financial wellbeing and retaining a squad to compete at the top end of the Championship are our top priorities.’ 

Relegation from the Premier League brings a sharp financial shock, with a collapse in revenue, even after the parachute payment. How well a club can manage that determines how likely they are to bounce back.

Watford took steps to protect themselves from the drop by inserting clauses into players’ contracts, which required most of them to take a pay cut of up to 50 per cent upon relegation.

In addition, the Hornets have sold Emmanuel Dennis to Nottingham Forest for £20M, and along with Kamara, Cucho Hernandez, Samir, Adam Masina, Moussa Sissoko, Philip Zinkernagel and Kiko Femnia, have all gone and commanded a fee.

Forward Joao Pedro may yet leave, but a move for Sarr to Aston Villa has fallen through.

Kamara’s £16M fee, reported by the Watford Observer, and the subsequent loan-back will strengthen Watford, according to Dr Rob Wilson, an expert in sports business management at Sheffield Hallam University. ‘I think there is an ethical issue with it, but it is permissible,’ he reflected.

The local paper reported that the ‘injection of funds means they are in a position now to potentially keep Ismaila Sarr… as well as strengthening the squad further’.

‘It is within the rules,’ agreed Kieran Maguire, a lecturer in football finance at the University of Liverpool. ‘Following the EFL excluding property sale profits to related parties from Profit and Sustainability calculations, this is one of the few remaining loopholes. 

‘It is creative accounting, but it’s allowable and a big benefit of a Multi Club Ownership model. Watford will of course argue that Udinese are owned by a different member of the Pozzo family, so it’s all above board, but that argument has little credibility.’

Multi club ownership is growing. The City Football Group is a leading proponent,  boasting Manchester City, New York City, Melbourne City, Girona, Troyes and Lommel in its 11-club portfolio.

Different rules on multiple ownership exist in each league and regulations do not apply internationally, except in the case of European cup competitions. 

In England, the Premier League and the EFL has restricted shareholding in a second club in the division to less than 10 per cent. Above that level the person, or organisation, is deemed to have an interest in running the club. 

UEFA’s integrity rules permit one person to have a 100% shareholding in one club and a ‘non-decisive influence’ shareholding in another club competing in the same competition.

The rule was established following a Court of Arbitration for Sport decision in 2000, when ENIC, which later bought Tottenham Hotspur, had a minority shareholding in AEK Athens (42.8 per cent) and a majority shareholding in Slavia Prague (96.7 per cent). Both clubs qualified for European competition and were allowed to compete.