Troost-Ekong earns Watford additional six-figure sum

When Salernitana secured a 2-2 draw and a point away at Roma on Monday, it meant they had secured their place in Serie A for another season – and earned Watford €400,000 in the process.

The Hornets had already pocketed a €500,000 loan fee when the Nigerian international defender made the switch to Italy in January.

However, the remaining money was only payable if I Granata avoided relegation – they were sitting just above the drop zone when Troost-Ekong arrived and had very recently been trounced 8-2 by Atalanta.

His debut was a 2-1 away win at Lecce but two games later he picked up a knee injury which ruled him out until mid-March.

However, Salernitana became the draw kings of Italian football, and the 2-2 at Roma was their ninth stalemate in their last 12 games.

Those results, coupled with home wins against Sassuolo and, ironically, the same Atalanta side that had put eight past them earlier in the season meant Monday’s draw at the Stadio Olimpico guaranteed their place in the top-flight.

They still have two league games left to play, and the Italian club have the option to purchase Troost-Ekong for a fee believed to be around €2m.

However, Salernitana have a time limit within which to exercise that right – if they don’t, then Troost-Ekong will return to Vicarage Road.

During the loan spell so far, the defender has made three starts and a further four appearances from the bench.

• The futures of five of the club’s players are likely to be decided very soon.

The majority of clubs have announced which of their players are being released or retained having lodged those details with the EFL last weekend.

However, clubs are not obliged to do so and, as things stand, Watford have not made any sort of announcement.

The league will share the details of all clubs’ retained and released players, and this is understood to be happening in early-mid June.

The Watford Observer understands that it’s more likely the club will release details about each player individually, rather than a list as many other clubs have done. However, they have not made any further information available.

The five players in question are Tom Cleverley, Craig Cathcart, Dan Gosling, Britt Assombalonga and Leandro Bacuna.