Watford Chief Executive Scott Duxbury Warns That His Players Aren't for Sale

Marco Silva isn't the only person in Watford that is being heavily courted for his services. The Watford boss was heavily tipped for the Everton job, but the Hornets did enough to bat away their advances. The London club may have won that battle, but more battles are to come, as they face another wave of suitors. 

The attention that Silva has garnered from others has also filtered down to his players, who as a team have been one of the biggest overachievers in the league thus far. Out of the pack of prized goods leads Richarlison who has drummed up a crowd of attention with the instant impact he has stamped onto the Premier League. 

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The Brazilian forward - who joined from Fluminense for £11.5m in the summer - has scored five goals, luring attention from both Chelsea and Tottenham. However, Watford chief executive Scott Duxbury spoke to Standard Sport about the unavailability of the 20-year-old Brazilian.

“We want Richarlison to be here for many more seasons. We are building a very competitive squad, we have no need to sell.

“We believe in the season being a race and that’s why we will never sell a player in January who we believe will help us. Nobody will be sold that we don’t want to. None of the players making an impact now will go.”

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Watford have enjoyed a fine start to the season, sitting eighth in the table - just off the cusp of the top four. Despite arriving in the summer from a relegated Hull side, Silva has been the main reason in why Watford find themselves where they are. 

Watford have plans of becoming a challenger to the status quo and according to the chief executive they won't get there if they bend to the will of the teams above theme when they come sniffing.

Duxbury said: “We believe in the season being a race and that’s why we will never sell a player in January who we believe will help us. Nobody will be sold that we don’t want to. None of the players making an impact now will go.

“There is no check on ambition. I want people to believe that we are a challenger and that we are a big football club — because we are".