Latest news with #HectorKyprianou
BBC News
7 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Watford sign former Bolton goalkeeper Baxter
Watford have signed goalkeeper Nathan Baxter on a two-year deal after his contract expired with Bolton 26-year-old made 72 appearances in two seasons with the Trotters, including the 2023-24 League One play-off final, after joining from Chelsea in June becomes the second Hornets signing of the summer after former Peterborough midfielder Hector Kyprianou penned a five-year deal."I knew about the club's interest last season and as soon as the season finished they wanted to meet me," Baxter told the club website, external."I had a great conversation with the goalkeeping coach and a great conversation with [Watford sporting director] Gianluca [Nani] and they really sold what they saw in me and where they see my career going." Baxter joined Chelsea's youth system at the age of eight and won the FA Youth Cup and Uefa Youth League during his time at Stamford he did not make a senior appearance for the Blues after signing a professional contract in he was loaned out to seven clubs, latterly Scottish side Ross County, Accrington Stanley and Hull City, where he spent two seasons before joining Bolton."I think this is the perfect platform to be able to show people what I can do," he added.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Who is the only Latvian-born player to have appeared for Watford?!
With the arrival at Vicarage Road of Hector Kyprianou, Watford will soon have their first full Cyprus international – and with overseas players now so commonplace in England, it means the club's yellow shirt has been worn by representatives from every corner of the globe. For instance, could you name the only Latvian-born player to play for Watford? He made five appearances and scored on his full debut – and it occurred in this century. Answer at the end of the article . . . The eagle-eyed Hornets fans may have looked at websites containing lists of international players meticulously compiled by the late and esteemed Trefor Williams, and seen that Tom Williams is listed as having had one Cyprus cap while at Watford. However, Williams was never actually on the books at Vicarage Road. He played one half of a pre-season friendly against Wealdstone at Harefield United in 2007 – a game Watford won 4-0 with Williams playing alongside such luminaries as Cedric Avinel, Johan Cavalli and Steve Kabba. So, as soon as Kyprianou earns his next cap he will become the first to play for Cyprus while at Watford – and with games against Bulgaria and Romania next month, that could happen quickly. The new midfielder was born in London, though, and joins a surprisingly lengthy list of current Watford players who have earned international honours for a country other than the one where they were born. Imran Louza was born in France and was capped by their Under-21s for instance, but now plays full international football for Morocco. Rocco Vata was born in Scotland but earned his first full cap for the Republic of Ireland last season, while Tom Dele-Bashiru was born in Manchester and played for England Under-16s but has since been capped by Nigeria at Under-20 and Under-23 level. And there is another Cyprus international at the club: London-born goalkeeper Gabriel Ortelli recently earned his first Under-21s cap. When it comes to country of birth, then the list of nations from which players have come to represent Watford is a long one. Players born in more than 70 different countries have featured for the Hornets in a competitive first-team game. As you might expect, players born in England lead the way, with more than 800 in total, followed by Scotland and Wales. Defender Francisco Sierralta has the honour of being Watford's only first-team player to have been born in Chile, and the same badge can be worn by Giorgi Chakvetadze for Georgia, and Mamadou Doumbia for Mali. Digging through the place of birth of Watford players throws up a few oddities – who knew Jose Holebas was born in Aschaffenburg, Germany?! Peterborough journalist's lowdown on new man Nabizada called up again by England Many countries have only produced one Hornet: Albania (Rey Manaj), Ghana (Prince Buaben), Peru (Andre Carillo) and Slovakia (Juraj Kucka) among them. But, going back to the question at the start of the answer – did you know the only Latvian-born Watford player? Well done (especially if you didn't have to resort to the internet etc) if you came up with Aleksandrs Cauna. A former Chelsea trialist, he worked with Brendan Rodgers at Stamford Bridge who then brought him to Vicarage Road on loan during the 2008/09 season. Cauna made his debut as a substitute away at Plymouth, and then scored a volley on his full debut in a 2-2 draw with Southampton at Vicarage Road on April 7, 2009. He returned to his parent club, Skonto Riga, after five appearances for Watford, and went on to earn 45 caps for Latvia before retiring from the game in 2020. Additional stats from Jon Sinclair's WFC database at
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Shrewd, early first summer signing as Watford attempt to lift the mood
Watford owner Gino Pozzo, chief executive Scott Duxbury and sporting director Gina Luca Nani have bridges to build. There has been seething reaction and resentment to Tom Cleverley's sacking and it's alarmed them. In a poll in the local newspaper, 94% were against the latest head coach removal. The vitriol has been its loudest since Pozzo took over and it seems to have shocked him and the board. Changes have been made and operation reconciliation has begun. There already seems a softer, more open, approach. The message has been they are still very ambitious, that they envisage keeping nearly all of their best players, and that they are aiming for a Premier League return. What Watford fans will want to see is promises kept and then action taken, rather than words. The supporters are going to take some convincing. Some hardened Watford fans have had enough. They are fed up with the way the club has been run in the past few years and the sacking of the immensely popular Cleverley was the final straw. The board have made early inroads in an attempt to lift the mood. The signing of Hector Kyprianou seems a shrewd one. A freebie, a good age - 23 - but with plenty of experience, an international and leadership qualities; he ticks a lot of boxes. But some fans may need more time to forgive the sacking of Cleverley. There is an uneasy vibe at the moment - a disconnection. Those who have paid for their season tickets will hope for change, but expectations are quite low. Pozzo and the board still have plenty of making up to do.
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Watford sign ex-Peterborough midfielder Kyprianou
Watford have signed midfielder Hector Kyprianou on a five-year deal following the expiry of his contract with Peterborough 23-year-old Cyprus international joins on a free transfer and is the Hornets' first signing since the appointment of Uruguayan Paulo Pezzolano as head coach, Kyprianou made 140 appearances for Peterborough, scoring 16 goals, including the second in their 2-0 EFL Vertu Trophy final win over Birmingham City at Wembley in deal will be completed on 1 June."It's a historic club, a massive club that matches my ambitions, which is to play as high as possible and to reach the Premier League," Kyprianou told the club website., external"One of the reasons I joined is that they showed quite a lot of interest in me for a while, and for me that adds a lot of value."To know that they wanted me is a huge positive. Paulo sent me a message to say 'welcome' and we're looking forward to working with each other."Kyprianou spent time in Tottenham Hotspur's youth set-up before making the short move to join Leyton Orient in made his English Football League debut in December of that year and played 79 games for Orient before being sold to Peterborough for an undisclosed fee three years ago. His senior international debut came against Norway in 2023 and he has won 10 Cyprus caps so far."Once the season ended, we asked Peterborough for permission to speak to Hector and we thank them for their cooperation in agreeing to this," said Watford sporting director Gian Luca Nani."Hector fits the demands Paulo has for his players - intensity and a high technical and tactical awareness."Watford finished 14th in the Championship this season, which led to the sacking of former head coach Tom Cleverley.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Tonight's Swansea City transfer news as star says 'all options open' and chief makes Kyprianou admission
Here's your round-up of all the latest Swansea City news for Friday May, 9. Hannes Delcroix says 'all options are open' this summer following his return to Burnley this summer. The defender is set to head back to Turf Moor following a reasonably successful loan spell with Swansea City, and his next move appears uncertain. Sign up to our Swansea City newsletter here READ MORE: Brendan Rodgers confirms Celtic coach talks as he makes telling admission amid Swansea City links READ MORE: The targets Swansea City could return for after bids knocked back and stars now free to leave It seems unlikely the 26-year-old will be part of Scott Parker's plans in the Premier League, while there's currently no suggestion he'll be returning to south Wales next season. The player himself doesn't seem sure about what comes next. 'I don't know,' Delcroix told Belgian publication Gazet van Antwerpen when quizzed about his future. "All options are open.' Delcroix made 12 appearances for the Swans during his short stint in SA1, which the one-time Belgium international embarked on largely without his young family. "I went there alone," he said. "Swansea is four hours by train from where we live, below Manchester, because it was only for a few months. 'For my girlfriend and our children, a move would have been too much hassle. Just now that everyone here has adjusted. When our children play, they even speak English to each other.' Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony admits the club should have sold Swansea City target Hector Kyprianou. The midfielder is set to leave the League One outfit on a free when his contract expires this summer, having been the subject of a failed bid from the Swans back in January. The 23-year-old's departure for nothing will undoubtedly come as a blow to the East Anglians, and MacAnthony admits allowing his situation to get to this points has proved a mistake. "We made mistakes we won't make again," he told the Peterborough Telegraph when assessing the season. "We shouldn't have given new contracts to players who wanted to leave and who ended up leaving anyway. "We should have sold Hector Kyprianou and used the money to buy two new midfielders. Instead we became fearful of losing our captain and one of the best midfielders in League One. We were concerned with what our fans would say. "It didn't help the dressing room which is not a criticism of the players themselves, but as a club we now have to paint the best portrait of ourselves and get back to our best." Cyrus Christie has bid farewell to Swansea City for a second time. The versatile defender is to leave the club on a free transfer, having previously signed a short-term deal until the end of the season back in November. In what was his second spell with the club, the 32-year-old made 12 appearances, three of which were starts. Writing on social media, the Republic of Ireland international Christie said: "Thank you to everyone at Swansea City – team-mates, staff and fans – for the memories, support and experiences that I'll always carry with me. "Wishing the club nothing but success moving forward." Sign up to the Swansea City WhatsApp service to get breaking news and top stories sent to your phone Eom Jisung paid a visit to his old club recently following Swansea City's end to the Championship season. The winger signed for the Swans last summer from K-League side Gwangju FC, and has since made 37 appearances for the the club. Eom Ji-sung visited his old club and his former club mates were commenting on how big he got.A nice little homecoming for Eom. #엄지성 #SCFC — Joel Kim (@KNTFootball) May 9, 2025 He scored the third goal of his Swansea career in the final day draw with Oxford United last weekend, and there's real hope he can build on what's been an encouraging first season in the second tier. But despite his progress, he still clearly has plenty of time for his former club. In a video posted by Joel Kim on X, Eom can be seen surprising his former team-mates with an impromptu visit, and many of his ex-colleagues seem shocked at how much he's bulked up.
