Watford have signed defender James Clarridge from Nottingham Forest, as announced by their official club website.
Watford have swooped to land the youngster on a permanent deal.
Clarridge, 19, will initially link up with the Hornets’ development side.
Their website confirms he has penned a contract running until the summer of 2025.
New face at Watford
Clarridge has been on the books at Nottingham Forest for his whole career to date.
He rose up through the academy ranks at The City Ground and was a regular for the Reds at various youth levels. The Premier League side handed him his first professional deal back in 2021.
Although he didn’t make a competitive first-team appearance for Forest, he did feature for their Under-21’s outfit in the EFL Trophy.
Clarridge has now been given the green light to leave Nuno Espirito Santo’s side for a fresh start in Hertfordshire.
He will be one for the future at Watford as they look to get into the play-offs in the Championship this season.
The Hornets brought in former Barnsley and Watford boss Valerien Ismael as their manager last summer and he has since made a positive impression at Vicarage Road.
They are sat in 9th position in the table and are three points off the play-offs. They drew 0-0 away at Sheffield Wednesday earlier this week and are back in action this weekend at home to Cardiff City.
Watford delved into the transfer market in January to bring in attacker Emmanuel Dennis to boost their options at the top end of the pitch. They also made Giorgi Chakvetadze’s loan move a permanent deal.
Rhys Healey and Imran Louza were the two most notable departures as they left for Huddersfield Town and FC Lorient.