Brexit stops Porteous transfer from Watford to Udinese

Udinese had a deal in place to sign Scotland international Ryan Porteous from Watford, but it’s reported that has collapsed due to Brexit.

The 24-year-old had been chosen as the ideal replacement for Nehuen Perez, who is on the verge of a sale to Napoli for €16m plus another €2m in bonuses.

Watford and Udinese are both owned by the Pozzo family and therefore regularly exchange players between them with minimal fuss.

However, Sky Sport Italia, Tuttomercatoweb and others now report that the clubs miscalculated how the rules on non-EU players have changed following Brexit.

While it is true that a special dispensation was given to British players so they could still count as members of the EU, that only qualifies for the first to be signed by the Italian club that season.

That slot was therefore already taken by Jordan Zemura, another former Watford player.

The other non-EU places are filled by ex-Aston Villa player Keinan Davis – who is English – and Brazilian Brenner.