Wednesday saw Watford FC host an event named ‘At Our Place’ at Vicarage Road. It was a chance for fans to question players, coaching staff and directors ahead of the busiest period of the football season.
There was plenty of exciting news to come from the night for Hornets supporters, not least the confirmation that manager Javi Gracia will be penning a new three-year contract next week.
But there was another reveal from Watford chief executive Scott Duxbury that seems like it’s been a very long time coming.
Venezuelan forward Adalberto Penaranda, who has been earmarked as one of the most exciting footballers to have emerged from his country, signed a contract with Watford in July 2016 but has not yet kicked a ball for the club because of work permit issues.
He was 18 when he signed and is said to have cost the Hornets around £8m. Since then he’s been shipped out on loan to the likes of Granada, Udinese and Malaga and things haven’t always been so plain sailing for a young man who has been through a lot off the pitch as well as on it.
This season was expected to be the one where Penaranda would finally be able to play for Gracia’s side. There was no loan move this time and the forward has been working with his team-mates behind the scenes since June.
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Watford have been knocked back in their attempts to secure a permit for Penaranda on several occasions, though, and there was still no confirmation of his eligibility in the opening months of the season. But after recent speculation that everything was finally sorted, Duxbury confirmed the good news on Wednesday night and threw in an added bonus.
Penaranda, now 21, is finally available to start kicking balls around for Watford but he has also penned a new five-year contract. It’s a definite sign that Watford see him as a part of their future, something that became a bit unclear amidst the back and forth between various clubs in recent years.
So who is this guy and how good could he actually be?
Making a name for himself
The forward came through the ranks with Deportivo La Guaira, a club based in the capital city of the Venezuelan state of Vargas, the country’s main port. He made his professional debut with the club as a 16-year-old in 2013, playing against Deportivo Tachira in the Primera Division, Venezuela’s top flight.
It didn’t take him long to attract interest from other suitors and it’s no surprise that the Pozzo family and their staff were quickly on his case. These guys know a good footballer when they see one.
In June of the same year Penaranda entered what’s become known as ‘the Pozzo triangle’ when he signed for Udinese and was quickly loaned to Spanish outfit Granada.
In December 2015, the youngster netted his first La Liga goals with a brace against Levante and became the youngest non-Spanish player to score a brace in the Spanish top flight, breaking a record set by Lionel Messi. Not bad, right?
Move to Watford
You could say that Penaranda was always being lined up by the Pozzo’s for a move to Watford. At Granada it quickly became clear that he had the potential to become the ideal Premier League forward; hard working, versatile, very skilful and very unpredictable.
With that, he signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with the Hornets in February 2016, but the club were well aware that they would have to wait a while to see him in action. A work permit was always going to be an issue.
The only thing they could do for the time being to help resolve that issue was to get him playing football. He remained at Granada on loan for the rest of the 2016/17 season. The Pozzo’s sold Granada at the end of the campaign and when it was revealed that Penaranda would still not be eligible to play for Watford last season, it was decided that he would spend the campaign on loan at Udinese instead.
However, he only managed seven appearances in the first half of the season for the Serie A side and in January he was recalled and sent back to La Liga, this time with Malaga. That didn’t go too well either – 16 appearances, no goals and suggestions that Penaranda just couldn’t settle. But can you really blame him?
Penaranda returned to Watford last summer and the feeling was that this work permit was now imminent. Gracia spoke fondly over the forward at the start of the season and we should be able to see him in action very soon.
How soon? We don’t know. He’s been working with Watford since June so fitness levels shouldn’t be too big of a problem. Gracia won’t throw him in at the deep end but there is plenty of noise around the club that Penaranda is one very talented young footballer that the Hornets are very lucky to have on their books.
International career
Venezuelan football fans have been very excited about Penaranda for some time. Their talisman is West Brom forward Salomon Rondon, who’s currently on loan at Newcastle United, but Penaranda is seen as their future star.
His U17 debut came when he burst upon the scene in his homeland and he stepped up to the U20s following his move to Granada.
Penaranda was deemed good enough to make his senior Venezuela debut in March 2016 but he represented the U20s at last year’s U20 World Cup in the Korean Republic.
He scored twice and registered three assists to lead his country all the way to a final with England, where he missed a penalty. This, though, was another reminder of just how exciting a player Penaranda could become.
To date, Penaranda has made 13 senior appearances for Venezuela, with his most recent cap coming last month. He hasn’t played as much football for them as he’d have liked in recent months though, with the vast majority of those appearances coming at the start of last year.
Games for Watford should soon lead to a lot more appearances for his country.
Off the pitch
Penaranda has been through so much on the pitch already but his experiences away from football are more eye opening than you could ever imagine.
During his days with Deportivo La Guaira, the youngster was caught up in a violent robbery attempt when him and team-mate Charlis Ortiz were confronted by two thugs that wanted to steal a car.
Both Penaranda and Ortiz were shot. Ortiz had lifesaving surgery to remove a bullet from his chest, whilst Penaranda was very lucky to have escaped with a more minor injury to his left leg after a bullet had grazed his thigh.
When he moved to Granada in 2015, club medics were concerned about the damage to the leg because of a lack of muscle mass.
Venezuela was once the richest country in South America but now has the highest murder rate in the region and has been plagued by political problems in recent years.
If Penaranda goes on to have the career that many feel he is capable of having then he will become one of the country’s shining lights.
Style of play and fitting in at Watford
Penaranda will give Watford something they lack in attack. He is your typical tricky South American forward, if you like.
In the Championship, the Hornets had Fernando Forestieri, a player who could create something out of nothing, at a lower level of course.
Since his departure to Sheffield Wednesday, the club have lacked a forward of that ilk and there is no question that Penaranda could be the man to fill that void.
Hello
@premierleague pic.twitter.com/VZNvWdMRXC
— Peñaranda (@Adalbertopr7) November 21, 2018
He is capable of playing in a number of different positions and is usually used on the left-side of the attack for Venezuela.
He will add to the exciting number of offensive options at Gracia’s disposal. The Hornets started the season with Troy Deeney and Andre Gray leading the line, with Will Hughes and Roberto Pereyra supporting them, but in the last month we’ve seen Gerard Deulofeu and Isaac Success enter the fray.
Penaranda was compared to former Udinese forward Alexis Sanchez during his time at the Serie A club, to which he replied: “Alexis Sánchez is a superb player. We’re similar in many ways but I have to focus on doing my best and being a success.”
What’s clear is that the Watford forward has a lot of confidence in his ability and, having had to wait for so long to make his mark on the Premier League, he’ll be chomping at the bit to show everyone what he can do.
Pace, skill, unpredictability, an eye for goal and that typical South American desire to win at all costs. Adalberto Penaranda is definitely a player to keep an eye on.
The post Adalberto Penaranda: After waiting years, Watford can finally field one of their most exciting talents appeared first on Squawka News.
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