Watford Announce First Summer Signing
Watford completed their first piece of business of the summer transfer window yesterday, as they announced the signing of 27 year old centre-back Sebastian Prodl.
Prodl has spent the previous five seasons with German side Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga, but rejected a new contract in favour of a new challenge this summer.
Despite ‘strong interest’ from other Premier League sides, one of them thought to be Leicester City, Prodl decided to put pen to paper on a five-year-contract at Watford, which will keep him with the Hornets till the summer of 2020.
The 6ft 4 defender started his career with Austrian side Sturm Graz where he made 43 appearances, scoring 4 goals.
He then moved to Werder Bremen where he has remained for the past seven years, amassing 150 appearances for the German side, scoring 10 goals in the process. During the 2014/15 season, Prodl made 23 appearances for Die Werderaner, scoring 3 times.
Whilst playing in Germany, Prodl was rated as one of the most consistent defenders in the Bundesliga, with his impressive form seeing him linked with a number of clubs over the summer.
In addition to his successful career in Germany, the 27 year old also has also been capped at international level by Austria, and he featured in Euro 2008 which Austria co-hosted with Switzerland. To date, he has 49 caps for Austria, and 4 international goals to his name.
On a free transfer, Prodl looks like an excellent signing. Experienced, strong and dominant in the air, Prodl looks like the defender that Watford have been craving for the past few seasons. With a good reputation from Germany as well, Prodl could turn out to be an excellent signing for the Golden Boys and he will certainly bolster the Hornets defence.
Welcome to the club Sebastian!