Watford admit Townsend interest and ‘open’ to Adebayor

Andros Townsend: Expected to leave Tottenham this month

Andros Townsend: Expected to leave Tottenham this month

Quique Sanchez Flores admits Andros Townsend is exactly the type of player Watford need – and admits he could be tempted to sign free agent Emmanuel Adebayor.

Flores has been linked with a January swoop for out-of-favour Tottenham winger Townsend and his former White Hart Lane team-mate Emmanuel Adebayor, who is currently a free agent.

The Hornets boss would not confirm or deny concrete moves for either player, but admits he may struggle to persuade Adebayor to be a third-choice striker behind his regular and in-form front two, Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo.

“I can understand why a lot of clubs in England want to sign Adebayor,” said Flores. “He’s 31, he has quality, he has experience, he has goals. So I understand that he can choose where he wants to play in the Premier League.

“It’s not easy to come here to cover Deeney and Ighalo. They have a high performance every time and they are part of the soul of this team. It’s difficult to challenge these players, so we need to be sensitive.

“We need to explain to the players on what condition they’re coming to this team. I don’t want any players coming here to cover strikers that think they are going to play easily, because it’s not the real situation.

“We play with two strikers but it’s difficult to take them out of the team, including in the match.”

Watford reportedly had a £10million bid for England international Townsend turned down earlier this month, and Sanchez clearly remains keen on the 24-year-old.

“He has the characteristics that we are looking for,” added the Spaniard.

“We have players in the side who can play intelligent football but we need skill, we need velocity. We need to make a balance with these players and he has the characteristics.

“I don’t like to talk about names but these are the kind of characteristics we are looking for.”

Sanchez on Saints clash

Watford head to Southampton on Wednesday night in search of a first win in four Premier League matches.

Ronald Koeman’s Saints have hit a miserable run of form with just one win in their last 10 outings in all competitions, a far cry from their impressive campaign last season.

Sanchez feels Southampton may have over-achieved last term, when they finished seventh, but is still anticipating a tough encounter on the south coast.

“Maybe Southampton last year were better than the squad they have,” he said.

“They were fighting against Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, amazing teams. Sometimes one team is doing amazing performances under the level that they have.

“Results are important for the confidence of the players. They didn’t start well so they have problems with confidence, but they have an amazing team, a good manager, so the match will be tough for us.”