Former Manchester United star fears Newcastle United bid could ‘ruin’ Watford

Newcastle United’s attempts to sign Watford star Joao Pedro could ‘ruin’ the Championship club - according to former England goalkeeper Ben Foster.

The Magpies were believed to have made three offers ranging between £20million and £30million for the Brazilian youngster over the last ten days as they looked to strengthen Eddie Howe’s attacking options.

The Hornets have resisted all three offers as they continue to rebuff interest in both Pedro and fellow forward and reported United target Ismaila Sarr.

As it stands both players will remain at Vicarage Road for the time being after Aston Villa’s deal to sign Sarr collapsed and Newcastle moved on to their club record deal for Real Sociedad star Alexander Isak.

Everton are also said to be interested in signing Pedro and were set to match Newcastle’s third and final offers for the 20-year-old prior to their attempts to take Brighton and Hove Albion striker Neal Maupay to Goodison Park.

With more clubs considering moves for their star forwards, former Hornets keeper admitted his concern for his old club and fears it could ‘ruin’ their attempts to get back into the Premier League at the first attempt.

He told TalkSPORT: “The worry is the transfers that have been banded around, there is a risk of Sarr being sold. Pedro going to Newcastle. And that’s the problem, at the minute.

“The worry for Watford is that if they do sell these kinds of players, they have had a couple of 0-0’s and scoring goals is going to be their problem.

“This is the problem with having a team like Newcastle that have unlimited funds to splash about. They make bids for absolutely everybody and it ruins teams.

“And it will ruin Watford, it will because it would have turned their heads. It would have turned Joao Pedro’s head. It was turned Sarr’s head for Aston Villa.

“They will want to get that move and straight back to a Premier League club. Their wages will go up. Established Premier League teams. It’s a genuine problem for the smaller teams when a massive monster of a team with unlimited funds comes knocking.”