Italian midfielder Edoardo Bove has a second chance at a football career – but insisted joining Watford is not a ‘second choice.’
The former Roma star has been waiting to return to the pitch since suffering an on-pitch cardiac arrest in December 2024.
The 23-year-old collapsed during a Serie A game whilst playing on loan for Fiorentina against Inter Milan nearly 14 months ago.
In the United Kingdom, someone dies from cardiovascular disease every three minutes – an average of 460 deaths each day.
Five UK lives had been lost to heart problems from the start of kick-off to when Bove dropped to the floor in the 16th minute.
Fortunately, the Italy U21 star didn’t become another statistic – but a fitted cardiac defibrillator ended his playing days in his homeland.
Roma released Bove from his contract as a result, and he signed a five-and-a-half-year deal with Watford earlier this month.
“I’m here because it’s a very big challenge for me and it’s a very ambitious club with one main goal, to go back to the Premier League,” he told talkSPORT.
“So, the first reason because I chose this club is because I know that I’m the kind of player that wants like these kind of challenges.
“It’s an ambitious club that has an objective in the mind. So we are fighting for something, and we are looking to go to the Premier League.
“So, this was the first reason. Then, I spoke with the director, the owner, and everything was perfect.
“Even talking about the structures, the medical staff and that’s a very important part for me and for coming back in the possible way.
“So, these are the two main reasons because I’m here and I’m looking for, and I want to come back and play the games.”
Bove’s story is becoming increasingly commonplace, with Christian Eriksen having his contract with Inter Milan terminated by mutual consent following the fitting of an ICD in December 2021.
However, the Dane revitalised his career at Brentford, and ultimately went on to play for Manchester United and is now at Wolfsburg.
Earlier this season, Tom Lockyer made his first competitive appearance at Bristol Rovers in a 4–0 defeat to Crawley Town since he suffered a cardiac arrest in December 2023 for Luton Town.
Bove, whose Watford contract will run until the summer of 2031, could follow both in returning to action in four to six weeks.
“I’m confident,” he added to talkSPORT. “I’m happy because we did a lot of visits and stuff like that, and they were all good.
“The thing I want to say is I’m not here because in England you can play even when you have a disease. It’s not like this.
Watford ‘not a second choice’
“I did a lot of tests, and I’m happy to be here and to play again,” Bove continued.
“In Italy, now I cannot play because of these kinds of rules, but I’m very happy to be here. It’s not a second choice.
“It’s a challenge I wanted to take, and I’m really happy to be here.”
Bove had interest from the Premier League and Bundesliga, including Liverpool, Everton, Brentford and Bournemouth.
But on joining the Hornets in the Championship, he admitted: “I had offers, but the thing is I want to play the more games I can.
“I have this kind of connection with this club. I needed a place where I was really happy and comfortable to come back.
“We are doing everything like it has to be done. We are trying to get me on the pitch as soon as possible.
“We are doing this with the staff, the technical staff, the medical staff. It’s true that I want to come back but we have to calculate when and where. For now, I’m really happy about my decision.”
In 2022, former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Eriksen told talkSPORT, ‘If there was any anxiety I wouldn’t go back [to football].‘
Meanwhile, Lockyer’s collapse during Luton Town’s Premier League clash against Bournemouth in December 2023 was not the first time the 31-year-old had had a serious medical episode during a match.
The Welshman had collapsed seven months earlier in the opening stages of Luton’s Championship play-off final against Coventry City.
However, he has since made 14 appearances for Bristol Rovers since October, and Bove is similarly fearless about his own health.
“I’m not scared because I think my event happened at a perfect age,” he revealed. “I wasn’t too young to not understand this kind of problem. I wasn’t too old. I had fear of something to go back, but I’m a very rational person.
“I heard a lot of different doctors, and we arrived to the conclusion that I’m in a good condition and I can play without problems. I have to monitor myself, and that’s it. I live these days.
“I learned to live watching the present and not the future. I cannot wait to come back tomorrow and train again. Today in the morning I trained. It was perfect, and I’m happy for this.
“Tomorrow is a new day, and I will work to do the best even tomorrow. I’m really happy to be back.
“I’m taking this challenge very seriously, but I want to look day by day and do every step I have to do.”
‘Watford fans will really respond to him’
Bove scored three goals in 65 Serie A appearances for boyhood club Roma prior to joining Fiorentina on loan in the summer of 2024.
European football expert, Andy Brassell, told talkSPORT.com: “I feel pretty sure that Bove would have been in the Italy squad if what happened to him hadn’t happened to him.
“He’s one of those guys that, despite the fact that he comes from a big club, he’s not someone who thinks he’s too good for any job or for any moment. He won’t be thinking about it as stepping down.
“He will be thinking about it as restarting a career that had so much promise. For him, I think, leaving Roma hurt a lot because it’s his club.
“For him, saying goodbye to Roma, as he did a couple of weeks ago at a recent home game just before his contract was officially cancelled, and then he went on to sign for Watford, of course, I feel that will be quite cathartic for him.
“The fact that he finally gets to turn the page from Roma, a club that he loves so much and where the fans love him so much and they always will, before any of this happened.
“But I think Watford fans will really respond to him.
“If it goes well, and obviously, his health is the main thing going forward, I wouldn’t put it past him to go up and, if Watford were to go up, establishing himself in the Premier League.
“Or if it went well at Watford and Watford don’t go up, to establishing himself in the top flight somewhere else, because he’s definitely got it.”