Watford youngster Amar Sanghrajka has left the club for Championship rivals QPR.
Sanghrajka will join the Hoops academy after eight years in WD18, during which he starred in the Under-18 team that reached the 2025 FA Youth Cup final and appeared on the first-team bench three times.
The 19-year-old exits at the end of a summer during which the club's Under-21 team was scrapped and academy downgraded to Category Three, leaving several players uncertain about next steps.
There is understood to have been discontent from players and families at the informal, sudden way the news of the downgrade was communicated, with a generic email sent out to everybody.
A few of the youngsters have since been in and out of first-team training and squads, though Sanghrajka only featured in the pre-season friendly at Barnet in July.
A genuine pathway into the first team has never been the club's priority under Gino Pozzo's ownership, with Amin Nabizada looking set to become just the second player in the last decade - following Ryan Andrews - to seriously establish themselves.
Watford said at the time that the reshuffle followed a "lengthy and strategic review" and that a closer alignment between the Under-18s and the first team will "improve overall standards and opportunities for our best Academy players".
Sanghrajka now joins the QPR academy, saying: "I'm really excited.
"It felt like the right move; I know being here is going to help me develop as a player and help me push on in my career.
"I've signed for a club with a long and rich history and I can't wait to get going."
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