The combination of a player who wanted to leave and Rob Edwards' desire to find the best way to meet the challenge of a little-known but very impactful Football League rule led to Watford selling Cucho Hernandez to MLS side Columbus Crew for a fee believed to be $10.5m.

The striker made it clear he wanted to explore options to move away from Vicarage Road so as with the likes of Ismailia Sarr and Emmanuel Dennis, club officials have worked on the understanding he may not be around next season.

However, new head coach Edwards also has an eye on an EFL rule that means teams can only name a maximum of 11 non-homegrown players in their 18-man matchday squad.

As in the Premier League, there is a limit of 17 non-homegrown players in the 25-man squad submitted to the EFL before the season starts.

But the Football League go a step further and place the 11-player limit on non-homegrown members of the 18 named on the team sheet for each match. (Another article will be published this afternoon dedicated to this rule, and its implications for Watford).

Edwards is obviously aware of this from last season in League Two, and I understand one of his earliest and important messages to Watford was that he didn't want to have players he couldn't even have involved on a matchday. He wanted to avoid players missing out as that could clearly have a negative impact on morale.

The Hornets boss would rather have more homegrown and, ideally, younger players in his squad so he is not hamstrung by this extra rule that the EFL apply.

So, when an acceptable offer came for the 23-year-old - who reportedly cost about £200,000 from Colombian side Deportivo Pereira - it ticked boxes: a very good return for a player who wasn't a regular starter, a non-homegrown player exiting and a place freed up for a homegrown player.

Cucho actually signed for Watford in 2017 but then spent spells on loan at Huesca, Mallorca and Getafe.

He exploded onto the Premier League scene on the opening day of last season with a stunning goal in the 3-2 win over Aston Villa. He went on to score a total of five goals in 28 appearances, although only 12 of those were from the start.

His incredible overhead kick in the home game with Arsenal won him the club’s Goal of the Season award.

Of course, some fans will question why the club is selling the likes of Cucho when there are other non-homegrown players who may not have been as likely to involved in the first team.

The simple fact is that to sell a player, or even release them on a free transfer, another club has to want to buy/take them.

In this case there was strong interest, a good fee and an early deal to be done which allowed Edwards to move in the direction he had expressed.

The club’s sporting director Cristian Giaretta explained: “When you have a player, like Cucho, that wants to leave because he cannot be guaranteed playing time, and you want to utilise your non-homegrown places carefully, then it became clear it was better to transfer the player.”