Former Crystal Palace of England youngster, Joseph Hungbo has survived a massive purge at London-based English Premier League stragglers, Watford, who have sacked three other Nigerian-born players in a clear-out move aimed at cutting costs, megasportsarena.com reports.
With The Hornets looking doomed for relegation to the lower cadre English Championship, they are trying to cut cost, but Hungbo is among the survivors that will stay on for at least another year, as the Vicarage Road outfit also handed new deals to a raft of young players in their ranks.
Along with Hungbo, Bayli Spencer-Adams, who played in the FA Cup ties with Tranmere Rovers earlier this season, Harry Forser Adam Parkes, Derek Agyakwa, Daniel Phillips and Henry Wise have all got new one-year deals, while 19-year-old striker Ryan Cassidy has been offered a two-year extension.
Those who will remain with Hungbo at Watford beyond this summer also include goalkeeper Dante Baptiste, midfielder JJ McKiernan and forward Dominic Hutchinson, as they have all been given one year extensions, while Sonny Blu Lo-Everton has extended his stay until 2022.
On the other hand three Nigerian-born lads – Jamal Balogun, Jayden Bennetts and Emmanuel Adebiyi – have been sent packing along with other youngsters in the under-23 and under-18 teams of The Hornets, who had Odion Jude Ighalo in their main team from 2015 to 2017, while Isaac Success and Tom Dele-Bashiru are in the list for this season.
However, former Flying Eagles winger Bennetts and emergent central defender Balogun will not be with Hungbo next season, as they have been axed along with Michael Folivi, Lewis Gordon, Cameron Green, Kaylen Hinds and Alex Jakubiak from Watford’s under-23s.
In similar vein, Adebiyi heads out of Vicarage Road in search of greener pastures elsewhere along with James Hoskins, Ryan Maclean, James Matthews, Harry Hudson, Imaad Sankoh and Harvey White from The Hornets’ under-18 squad.
