The Hornets are close to agreeing a deal with Crystal Palace over re-signing midfielder Adlene Guedioura on loan, the Watford Observer understands.

The Algerian international spent 36 days with the Hornets earlier in the season, playing six times for the Golden Boys before returning to the Eagles on New Year’s Day.

Watford had hoped to extend his stay at Vicarage Road but, after returning to Palace, the 29-year-old has been a regular member of their match-day squad.

He has made four appearances for Alan Pardew’s side but all of those have been as a substitute.

Watford have been looking to sign another midfielder since Guedioura left the club. However, they remained patient rather than rushing through a move before the January transfer window ended.

If the Hornets are able to seal Guedioura’s return it would be on an emergency loan. Players are only allowed to spend 93 days on emergency loan during a season so due to Guedioura’s previous 36-day stay, he would only be available for 57 days. That means if a deal is concluded shortly then he is likely to only be available for the automatic promotion push and not a play-off campaign, if required.

So in principle the Golden Boys would need to sign Guedioura no earlier than March 7 if they wanted the Algerian to be available for the final game of the season on May 2, if they were to use the 57 days in one go.

However, there would be nothing stopping the club, for example, from saving five days by cancelling the loan agreement after the game with Ipswich Town on March 21 and re-signing him before the window closes on the 26th, which could in principle make him available for the Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham games next week.