Watford head coach discusses Sebastien Bassong and others

Slavisa Jokanovic says Watford will take the “best steps for both sides” after Lewis McGugan returned to the club and has reiterated his desire to keep both Sebastien Bassong and Adlene Guedioura at Vicarage Road.

McGugan was at the club’s training ground on Friday following the end of his loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday, but manager Stuart Gray says the Owls “are in dialogue” with the Hornets about him returning to Hillsborough.

However, we have previously reported that Watford will also consider any bids for the former Nottingham Forest midfielder this month and have made Wednesday aware of this.

The Hornets head coach said: “We’re trying to find the best for us and him. This is the first day I’ve met him after the loan for Sheffield and in the future we’re going to take the best steps for both sides.”

Fellow midfielder Guedioura has now returned to Crystal Palace following the completion of his loan, while Bassong, who is not eligible to play against Chelsea in Sunday’s FA Cup third round tie, is due to go back to Norwich City next week.

Jokanovic admitted after the 4-2 victory at Cardiff City that he didn’t know whether Watford would be able to keep the pair once their short-term deals had expired and said today: “This is not a question for me.

“My desire is very clear but I am not a traditional manager, I am not the person who spends all that money for these players. If you ask me do you want to spend all the money for these players, yes.”

The Watford boss though, is expecting his squad to be strengthened now the transfer window has reopened.

“At the moment it’s not a clear situation,” he said. “I expect we’re going to be more strong than we have been in the two months and some days I’ve been here. The first half of the Championship is finished. We are in the position where we are now, but to try to be more up [the table] we must be stronger.”

One player who is expected to arrive at Vicarage Road is Mexican international Miguel Layun after Granada said he would be joining Watford on loan for the rest of the season.

Jokanovic though, was unable to shed any light on the player, who joined the fellow Pozzo-owned club on a five-year deal from Club America earlier this week.

He said: “I am not the guy to ask about this situation. I am with my team. I am concentrating on what is going to happen in front of me, in front of me is the next game on Sunday and that’s it. If somebody arrives I must work with him and observe how this guy can help us or not.”

However, it would appear to be only a matter of time before the move is confirmed as Layun tweeted a picture of himself on a flight to this country on Friday night, while other accounts earlier pictured him at an airport and said the player was leaving for London to link up with Watford.