Tony Watt set to join Dundee United this month; striker had signed a pre-contract agreement to join in the summer, but will now make his move in January after United agreed an undisclosed fee with Motherwell; follow the latest news in our dedicated Transfer Centre blog
Monday 17 January 2022 18:13, UK
Dundee United have agreed a deal with Motherwell to make Tony Watt's switch to Tannadice take place now, rather than in the summer.
The striker had agreed to a pre-contract deal with United earlier in January, but will now move this month after an undisclosed fee was agreed between the two clubs.
The 28-year-old is the top goalscorer in the Scottish Premiership so far this season and has registered 10 goals across all competitions.
Motherwell manager Graham Alexander said: "We have agreed a fee this morning with Dundee United for Tony so at some point today, Tony will be a Dundee United player.
"We had a conversation on Saturday after we trained, me and Tony, and over the weekend the club have agreed a fee which we find acceptable. That is getting officially done as we speak.
"Everything we do is for the best of the club and the team. We knew of the potential situation in the summer, the way it was going, and we decided on a course of action which we would be content with."
Watt joined Motherwell in 2020 and has scored 19 goals in his 70 appearances for the club in all competitions. In the 2020/21 season, he was voted as Motherwell fans' Player of the Month for four successive months from October to January.
Motherwell are not set to replace Watt, having already signed attacking player Ross Tierney in addition to securing a permanent deal for Jordan Roberts this month.
"We are not looking for a direct replacement for Tony," said Alexander ahead of Tuesday's game against Ross County in Dingwall.
"We feel we have the players already here at the club to keep the results going.
"We feel we have some real good options in those forward areas and we feel how we play we will continue to score goals and win games, and each individual adds into that."