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Roberto Pererya: how Watford’s Argentinian genius rose to Premier League prominence

Watford’s perfect start to the season has earned the Hornets a lot of praise from other fans and pundits. The Premier League also recognised the men from Hertfordshire’s best ever start to a Premier League season by handing manager Javi Gracia the manager of the month award for August.

The Watford team have all been top class as well, with the likes of Abdoulaye Doucoure and Troy Deeney impressing and performing brilliantly. However, another man has started to hit form too, with Argentine Roberto Pereyra capturing the hearts of every Watford fan.

Its been quite a journey for Roberto, or “Bobby P” as some Watford fans like to call him, after making his career debut at the age of 18 in his home country, Argentina. He had been spotted by River Plate and played with their academy for a few years, before making his debut in the Primera Division against Huracan.

His performances quickly were attracting interest, and two years on, Pererya was packing his bags and moving from his home country to Italy. Udinese were the team who managed to get their hands on the promising youngster, and while game time may have been a frustration, he managed to announce himself on the Champions League stage, making two appearances for the Italian side.

Scoring eight goals and contributing seven assists over a three-year spell, Pereyra was on the move again, but this time to Italian giants Juventus.

In 2014, he signed for Juve on loan, with an option to buy if Juventus were satisfied with his contribution. In his first season, he was the most featured player across all competitions for Allegri’s team, with the most important one coming in the Champions League final when Juventus were defeated by Barcelona in Germany. Pereyra may not have played for long, but a Champions League final appearance for a player is very impressive for the CV; it was only a matter of time before a team in England came calling.

Walter Mazzarri flew Pereyra over to Hertfordshire, which is where he remains now. Despite scoring on his debut in a defeat against Arsenal, his first season was always going to be tough while adapting to the physicality of the Premier League, spending a lot of the season sidelined with injuries. He also picked up a red card away at West Brom, which did get many Watford fans questioning whether he was going to live up to the hype, though slowly but surely, Pererya began to prove his critics wrong.

Last season, Pererya scored the fourth goal on a famous night at Vicarage Road, when Watford beat Chelsea 4-1 in Gracia’s first home game. He immediately caught the eye of Javi, and the manager’s confidence in him resulted contributing four goals and two assists towards the end of a disrupted season for the Hornets after the Marco Silva saga.

His form did, however, carry on into this season, and this is largely since Gracia moved him out onto the left-hand side of the pitch. Since the switch, he has received more space and time on the ball, and he has punished teams with goals against Brighton and Palace respectively.

He is now a huge fans favourite, with Vicarage Road constantly singing his name, and when he gets the ball, you know something will happen. He is evidently repaying Gracia’s faith in him and if he continues like this, could he force himself back into the Argentine international set up?



Whatever happens, if this form continues then a top six team will come in for him, as players like Pereyra are a joy to watch for millions of the football family around the world.

If Watford want to continue the season how they have started, then the form of “Bobby P” will be central to their success.

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