Report: Watford clinches Niang loan deal; includes €16M option to buy

It's an Italian job at Vicarage Road.

Watford manager Walter Mazzarri is preparing to dip into his homeland's transfer market again this month, agreeing to sign AC Milan winger M'Baye Niang on loan, according to Fabrizio Romano of the Guardian.

The cost of the temporary spell will be €1 million (£850,000), reports Sky Sports' Michael Kelleher, with an option to buy for €16 million (£13.6 million) open to the Hornets at the end of the season.

Niang was excluded from AC Milan's Coppa Italia quarter-final squad that faces Juventus on Wednesday, with his manager Vincenzo Montella conceding the 22-year-old - who's been found wanting for confidence in recent months - could leave the San Siro in January.

"Niang might leave the club. He's discussing it with the management," Montella said. "Should he stay, I would treat him like every other player. He's had ups and downs over his career, and the same has happened this year."

Other parties rumoured to be interested in the Frenchman are Genoa and Leicester City, with the latter apparently lodging a rejected €16-million bid in January 2016. It's believed the player would prefer a shift to the Premier League.

Niang has predominantly cropped up on the left flank for the revived Rossoneri this term, but is capable of fulfilling various roles across the attacking line. He has started just one match so far this calendar year.

Confirmation of the signing will mark the fifth occasion Mazzarri has purchased a player from Italy after summer swoops for Roberto Pereyra, Juan Camilo Zuniga, and Adalberto Penaranda, and Wednesday's signing of Mauro Zarate.