Maamma could make Watford their biggest profit yet

When the Pozzo family became involved in Watford 13 years ago, the recruitment model was to mirror that of then sister clubs Udinese and Granada, an extensive worldwide scouting network trying to uncover bright young stars for relatively small amounts of money to eventually sell on for profit.

This has proved to be successful over the years - Richarlison, Joao Pedro and Ismaila Sarr are some of Watford's best examples. Hornets fans enjoyed them for the few years they were at Vicarage Road and then they left for big money.

Which brings us to the present. Because Watford may well have outdone themselves.

Othmane Maamma, just 20, was signed from Montpellier in the summer for a fee thought to be under £1m. That's now looking like the bargain of the Pozzo ownership.

Maamma lit up the Under-20 World Cup with the Moroccan winning Player of the Tournament. That was followed with the African Young Player of the Year award.

The winger has only just broken into the Watford first team but has settled in seamlessly and made an instant impact. He's started six times and you could argue in all of those games he has been their best player.

Maamma has two goals and an assist and should have had more of both. He very nearly made it into the senior Morocco team for the Africa Cup of Nations and it would be no surprise if he sneaked into their World Cup squad next year.

Why is he so good? His technical ability is exceptional and his movement is great for such a young player. He is a big influence on games and makes things happen.

Young players, particularly wingers, can sometimes try to do too much but Maamma already has brilliant game intelligence and his ability to do the right thing at the right time sets him apart from others.

You can almost count the number of starts he's made on one hand but it looks like he's made 100.

Putting a price tag on Maamma at the moment is difficult as he's had so few senior games but if he continues to develop on this upward path, Watford are going to make a vast profit and when they eventually sell him it could end up being the best business they've ever done in terms of player-profit percentage.

There are already rumours of January transfer bids for him.

Watford don't tend to sell in the winter but if a silly offer came in they would surely have to consider making such a large profit in such a short space of time.

It would be the latest success of a transfer model that in its nature can be hit or miss.

Fans would like that player profit to be ploughed back into the team but the owner would probably argue this is the money that pays Watford's costs and keeps him running the club. That argument is for another day.

Meanwhile, we must enjoy Maamma while we can and make the most of him - however long he stays at Vicarage Road.