As per the club’s official website, Watford manager Javi Gracia has penned a new three-and-a-half year deal with the Premier League club. The 48-year-old took over at Vicarage Road back in January of this year following the departure of Marco Silva, and eventually led the Hornets to a 14th place finish in the English top-flight, a slight improvement on their effort the campaign before.

And the Spaniard has officially penned a new long-term deal to remain in charge of the Hertfordshire-based outfit, and with that agreement done, the Hornets must now focus their efforts on getting through the January transfer window without losing influential midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, Gracia has done a fine job since taking over from Silva at the start of the year, getting the club back on track somewhat in the second half of last season in masterminding victories over Chelsea and Everton to eventually finish eight points clear of the bottom three.

And the 48-year-old became the first Watford manager since Giuseppe Sannino back in 2014 to retain his job over the summer, and the Hornets are reaping the rewards from such patience given Gracia has led them to ninth place in the Premier League after 13 matches, winning six and losing just five.

Thus, the club do appear to be heading in the right direction under Gracia and are very much in position to reach the next level, although they can only do that by retaining their best players – of which Doucoure certainly falls into that category.

The 25-year-old made the move to Vicarage Road back in 2016 and has since been an absolute revelation in the Premier League, to the point that former boss Silva, now in charge of Everton, is reportedly keen on landing the Frenchman.

And no wonder given Doucoure has shown all the traits needed to be a top-quality central midfielder in the English top-flight, be it quality on the ball in laying on four assists already this term, adding to the seven goals he scored and four assists he contributed last term, or indeed ability off it in breaking up play and providing protection to the backline – he has got everything.

And at the age of 25, the former France youth international is only likely to get better and thus become even more integral to this Watford team – he’s a player they can ill-afford to let go if they are serious about reaching the next level.

In fact, with Gracia’s new long-term deal now done, Watford must now turn their attentions towards keeping hold of £13.5 million-rated Doucoure (as per Transfermarkt) during the January window – they have to retain him at all costs.

Watford fans… what do you think? Let us know!