Jeremy Ngakia closes in on Watford move.

Former West Ham United academy graduate Ngakia is closing in on a move to recently relegated Watford.

Jeremy Ngakia left West Ham when his contract expired at the end of June and has been a free agent since. There was hope that the club would manage to convince the 19-year-old into signing a new contract.

David Moyes gave Ngakia his debut when Ryan Fredericks was injured and Pablo Zabaleta‘s lack of pace was costing the team. Ngakia was handed his debut against Liverpool in a 2-0 loss. The right-back impressed though and kept his spot to make four more appearances for the club. There was hope Ngakia would nail down the spot and make it his own.

Ngakia’s run in the side was brought to an end by the Worldwide Pandemic caused by Coronavirus and the pause that the Premier League had to take. Then the news broke that Ngakia would be leaving at the end of his contract, much to fans despair.

Once Ngakia left the club many teams appeared to be interested in signing him on a free transfer. At first, it looked likely that the 19-year-old would be off to join the English revolution in Germany and test himself abroad. But since then it now seems like the young full-back will join Watford in the Championship as he looked to forge a career for himself.

West Ham, on the other hand, has escaped their own battle against relegation and at the same time another youngster has broken through. Ben Johnson, who was rated higher than Ngakia in the academy, has recovered from his injury problems and re-emerged as a potential first-team regular.

Johnson has previously played for the first team, making his debut in a loss against Manchester City. Once he returned to the first team he showed why he was rated higher between the two. Johnson also demonstrated his versatility, performing to a high standard at both left and right back.

So Ngakia may have moved and but fans should not feel disappointed about him leaving, instead should be excited about the future with Johnson.