One in one out for Watford
With the emergency loan window closing today, Watford acted quickly to bolster their midfield options by signing Crystal Palace midfielder Adlene Guedioura on loan till January 1st 2015 yesterday. The Algerian International midfielder has previous Premier League and Championship experience after turning out for the likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest before he joined Crystal Palace in the summer of 2013.
Guedioura started his career playing amateur football for Racing Paris before moving on to feature in the Second, Third and Fourth tiers in France for Sedan, Noisy Le Sec, L’Entente SSG and Créteil.
He then moved to Belgian Pro League side Kortrijk in the summer of 2008. He made 10 appearances for Kortrik before moving to fellow Pro League side Charleroi in January 2009 where he signed a one and a half year deal.
His impressive form for Charleroi alerted the attention of then Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers, who signed him on a loan deal until the end of the season in the summer of January. He made his debut the next day, coming on against Liverpool and scored his first goal for the club on the final day of the season against Sunderland. He then signed a permanent deal at the end of the season.
On the 30 January 2012, he joined Nottingham Forest on loan for the rest of the Championship season. His impressive performances for Forest meant that the Midlands club signed him from Wolves on a permanent deal for a rumoured fee of £1 Million Pounds at the end of the season.
After starting the 2013/14 season at Forest, Guedioura was signed on Transfer Deadline Day 2013 by newly promoted Premier League side Crystal Palace for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut against Manchester United on the 14th December 2013 and has made 15 appearances for Crystal Palace to date. After struggling to get into the Eagles starting line-up, Guedioura has decided to move out on loan with the African Cup Of Nations approaching and has signed a short term loan deal with Watford FC which will run till January the 1st.
Leaving Watford is young striker Uche Ikpeazu who has re-joined Crewe Alexandra on a short term loan deal till January. The young striker spent the back end of last season on loan with the League 1 side, scoring 4 goals in 15 appearances. After struggling with injuries in the summer, Ikpeazu has found it difficult to fight his way into the match day 18 and the Hornets have accepted an offer for him to link up with Crewe Alexandra again.