Newcastle United will come up against a former player next season, with Danny Rose joining Watford.
The left back has signed for the Hornets on a free, after it was confirmed he wouldn’t be getting a new deal at Tottenham.
He’s agreed a two-year deal at Vicarage Road, with Watford set to return to the Premier League.
This will be the 30-year-old’s second spell with the club, having spent time on loan there as a teenager.
Watford offer Danny Rose a fresh start
Rose has had a bit of a disaster over the past 18 months.
He fell out of favour at Tottenham in 2019, back when Jose Mourinho was manager. There was an infamous clip in Spurs’ Amazon documentary where Rose and Mourinho had an exchange of words about the defender’s lack of minutes.
In January 2020, Rose joined Newcastle on loan until the end of the season. He still had hopes of making the England squad, and a chance to start every week for the Magpies felt like a great opportunity.
Gareth Southgate even came to watch him at St James’ Park, witnessing a drab 0-0 draw with Burnley in March 2020. Interestingly, this was the last time SJP was allowed to be at full capacity.
Then COVID happened. The Premier League was put on hold. The Euros were delayed for a year.
Football resumed that summer, but Rose struggled. He failed to make his mark in a black and white shirt, and when his loan deal ended, there was no clamour for him to return.
Rose went back to Tottenham, and has just spent a full season without any first-team football.
His release came as no surprise, but Rose has been handed a Premier League lifeline.
Watford are back in the top flight at the first time of asking after coming second in the Championship.
They’ve added an England international to their ranks, but Rose will need to play a lot better than he did for Newcastle if he’s to impress the Watford faithful.
A penny for Alex McLeish’s thoughts, who claimed Newcastle fans would ‘love’ to sign Rose on a free. Incredibly, fans on Twitter didn’t agree.
Does anyone know where to get the best fish and chips in Watford, by the way?
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