An update has emerged on defender Kean Bryan, regarding Watford's prior interest in his services.

What's the talk?

According to the Birmingham Mail, Watford were one of the sides considering a move for defender Kean Bryan on a free transfer this summer.

The report claims that The Hornets, along with Burnley and Swansea City, looked into a potential deal for the ex-Sheffield United man before opting against signing him. Bryan's future has now been resolved as he has signed a contract with Championship side West Brom.

Nightmare avoided

Watford boss Xisco Munoz avoided a nightmare by opting against a deal for Bryan this summer. The head coach made the right call by deciding not to offer the versatile player a contract as he would not have been a good signing for a club in the Premier League.

Bryan made 13 appearances, including 12 starts, in the Premier League for the Blades last season as they were relegated from the top-flight with a whimper. He averaged a dismal WhoScored rating of 6.51, which shows that he was not able to perform with a high degree of quality, consistently, during the campaign.

The 24-year-old scored one own goal and was dribbled past 10 times in 13 games. This suggests that it was too easy for players to beat him in one-on-one duels in the Premier League, so he was not at the level required to defend against top-flight forwards.

In terms of experience, the £3k-per-week dud is severely lacking considering his age. He has only played 64 senior league matches in his career, with 50 of them coming for Bury and Oldham in League One prior to his spell with Sheffield United in the Premier League.

This means that Watford would have been signing a player coming off the back of a poor season who has next-to-no experience and little in the way of a portfolio of performances to suggest that he can turn things around.

Therefore, it would have been a disaster to bring him to Vicarage Road for the season, even on a free transfer.

Fans will be delighted that Xisco ultimately decided against the deal, with it being telling that a Championship side is where he has ended up going.

It will be interesting to see if he has a strong campaign for the Baggies in the second-tier, but based on the evidence available, Watford are unlikely to regret their decision any time soon.

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