Craig Dawson leaves West Brom after nine years to join Watford
Craig Dawson has left Albion after nine years and joined Watford in a deal totalling £6million.
The 29-year-old has signed a four-year contract with the Hornets, and becomes the first major sale of Albion's summer.
It ends a long-standing association with the Baggies for Dawson, who was first signed in 2010 for around £400,000.
Rochdale will received around £1.2m from the deal thanks to a 20 per cent sell-on fee negotiated nine years ago.
The defender made 225 appearances for the Baggies, scoring 15 goals, but he has now followed Ben Foster to Vicarage Road.
Albion were willing to sell Dawson this summer because he only had one year left on his contract.
The defender tried to force a move away from The Hawthorns last summer, when he handed in a transfer request and refused to go on Darren Moore's pre-season training camp to Portugal.
But the Baggies could not agree a fee with either West Ham or Watford, and Dawson remained.
He was slowly integrated back into the team and went on to make 32 appearances for the Baggies last season, scoring in the second leg of the play-off semi-final against Aston Villa.
Albion issued a statement saying: "The club wishes Craig and his family all the very best in the future."
