Adrian Mariappa says it is a “good thing” Abdoulaye Doucoure is a target for Paris St Germain but hopes Watford can keep him.
The midfielder is attracting strong interest from the French champions, who looked into a £50million deal for him last month.
Mariappa believes it is a compliment to Watford that PSG are chasing Doucoure.
“Look, we want to keep all our best players,” said Mariappa. “It is a good thing to have players linked with moves, it means they are doing well.
“As a group, we are close and we pull together well. He is a big part of that, so we are delighted to keep him.”
Doucoure made his comeback from a knee injury on Saturday, as he helped Watford secure a 1-0 win over Everton. Mariappa said: “I thought he had a terrific game. He was driving us forward and picking up second balls."
Saturday also marked Marco Silva’s first visit since he was sacked by Watford in January 2018. Asked if victory was any sweeter because it meant getting one over his former boss, Mariappa said: “No. I have played against a lot of ex managers and I am just fully focused on us as a team."
