Watford have sold Bosman signing Pape Gueye to Olympique Marseille.
The Hornets will claim seven-figure compensation for a player they had signed on pre-contract terms in January.
Gueye - a free agent when he agreed his move to Vicarage Road - changed his mind, claiming he had been “badly advised" to sign a five-year contract on a basic £45,000-a-month.
Watford registered defensive midfielder Gueye as their player at midnight on July 1 as scheduled.
But by 5pm, he had agreed terms with Marseille, posting a photo of himself in the French club's training top on Instagram and saying: “Very happy and proud to announce my signature at L'Olympic de Marseille for the next four years."
And rather than keep a reluctant recruit, the Hornets will claim compensation from Marseille on the basis that it would cost around £2.7m to buy out the player's contract alone, reports the Mirror.