Javi Gracia believes any potential big club interest in Abdoulaye Doucoure and his fellow players is only good news for Watford.
The Spaniard feels elite Premier League sides will only be looking at the talent at Vicarage Road because of how well the team are playing, which bodes well for the Hornets.
Doucoure has been linked with Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham in recent weeks and confirmed this while featuring as a guest on French media channel Telefoot.
When asked, Doucoure had replied: “It’s true that these clubs are interested in me. But I am at Watford and my focus is on finishing the season well and to maintain their Premier League status.”
Addressing the topic in his pre-match press conference ahead of Watford hosting Everton, head coach Gracia revealed he did not know of such interest but spoke of the bigger picture of his side’s good form.
“I’ve spoken to Doucoure about the movement when we play Everton but not about that [transfer links],” said Gracia.
“I don’t know if there are big clubs interested in Doucoure or other players, but if there are big clubs interested in our players it’s because they are playing well. Play well and we’ll see what happens in the future.”
Upcoming opponents Everton have recent bad blood with Watford, following a disagreement earlier in the season regarding the Merseyside club’s pursuit of former Hornets boss Marco Silva. Gracia however insists he is not concerned by historic events.
He said: “I am not worried about the past. I don’t know many things that you are telling me.
“I am focused only on the future against Everton, against West Brom. I don’t know what happened in the past about the coaches, it’s not my problem.
“We prepare well for this game, we have time and we have more options to choose players so it’s a good moment for us to play against a big club as Everton to try to get the points.”
The Hornets could be offered a boost in the form of returning faces on Saturday, with several first team players returning to full training.
“This week [Heurelho] Gomes, Kiko Femenia, [Miguel] Britos, Will Hughes all trained with the team and it’s possible they will be available to participate in the next match. They are not 100 per cent but they trained with the team this week.”
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