A few eyebrows were raised on Teesside this week when news broke of Ashley Fletcher's imminent motility to Premier League Watford.

The motility is expected to be confirmed in the coming days, with Fletcher said to have signed a v-year deal with the Hornets.

Fletcher had something of an up and down time at Boro. More lows than highs, in all honesty.

Later on two difficult seasons, he was top scorer in the 2019/20 campaign and would have probable been Neil Warnock's master human this season had he not suffered that hamstring injury against Bournemouth in September that ruled him out for four months.

Warnock had loftier hopes for Fletcher when he returned - revealing in Dec that he'd challenged the sometime Manchester United man to still finish the season equally top scorer, despite his long layoff. Simply the forward's return to action didn't become to plan. In just his 2d get-go, he hobbled off early on confronting Bristol Urban center. That would turn out to be his last get-go for the gild. Off the pitch, negotiations over a contract extension had broken down and information technology became increasingly articulate this would be Fletcher's last season on Teesside.

Middlesbrough's Ashley Fletcher

Ashley Fletcher

Watford were monitoring the situation.

The forward shares an amanuensis with Watford duo Troy Deeney and Tom Cleverely and, according to The Athletic, the forrad has been on the radar of the Hornets always since he was at Manchester United.

They were said to be well aware of his contract situation this season and deemed Fletcher a good option regardless of whether or not they were successful in their bid to win promotion. If they failed, say the Athletic, Fletcher was seen as a useful signing with second tier experience. If they went upwardly, he'd arrive desperate to prove a bespeak in the top flight.

The capture of Fletcher, say The Athletic, is seen by Watford equally a "low risk deal" every bit they look to freshen upwards their forwards line.

Merely volition he play? The forward is expected to jostle for the forrard spots with Deeney, Joao Pedro and Cucho Hernandez.

From a Boro point of view, information technology will be interesting to encounter how things play out for Fletcher at Vicarage Road. Fletcher arrived at Boro armed with numberless of potential. That's why he was signed - not necessarily because of what he was ready to do merely because of what he could do. Only that pretty much remains the case iv years on.

It's a decorated spell on and off the pitch.

The Championship campaign is underway, while off the pitch Boro go along to work tirelessly on adding to their squad.

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To top score with 13 goals in the hard nineteen/20 season was the clearest glimpse of what he is and could be capable of. We'll never know if that would have been the springboard to success this season had he non suffered that hamstring injury.

Britt Assombalonga was always going to leave this summer but Boro initially hoped to keep Fletcher, and the forward would take been part of Warnock's plans for side by side season. But terms couldn't be agreed.

For diverse reasons - injury, loan spells, form and misfortune - a few seasons take passed Fletcher past. He needs to be playing now. He needs to exist the chief man. Will that opportunity present itself at Watford? Only fourth dimension will tell.

Equally for replacing Fletcher and Assombalonga, that's Warnock'southward priority and is dominating his thinking - especially later on he ticked an important box with the early capture of Joe Lumley between the posts, the other area that badly needed addressing this summertime.