Mourinho Among First to Call Bove After Cardiac Arrest
Quick Reads
- Edoardo Bove, 23, has joined Watford in the Championship after mutually terminating his contract with Roma in January 2026.
- Bove suffered a cardiac arrest in December 2024 during a Serie A match between Fiorentina and Inter Milan, where he was on loan.
- Italian regulations bar players fitted with an implantable defibrillator from competing professionally in the country, forcing Bove to move abroad.
- Former Roma manager Jose Mourinho was among the very first to call Bove following the incident, with the player describing their bond as “unbelievable.”
- The move was set in motion by a chance airport encounter between Bove and Watford sporting director Gianluca Nani, while Bove was still in the middle of his medical checks.
Edoardo Bove is back. More than a year after collapsing on a pitch in Florence with a cardiac arrest, the Italian midfielder has signed for Watford, formalising a move that began with a chance encounter at Trieste airport and ends with a new chapter in the English Championship. Roma confirmed the end of his contract in January 2026, saying in a statement: “Today marks the beginning of a new chapter in his career.”
The 23-year-old’s path back to professional football has been anything but straightforward. Bove’s career was left in the balance after he collapsed on the pitch in December 2024 while playing on loan for Fiorentina in a fixture with Inter Milan. He was discharged from hospital with an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) fitted to regulate his heartbeat, a device that immediately complicated his future in Italian football. The permanent presence of the defibrillator bars footballers from playing in Italy due to the stringent health regulations that govern sport in the country. It is the same reason Christian Eriksen had to leave Inter Milan in 2021 following his own cardiac arrest at Euro 2020.
Watford had actually identified Bove well before the January window opened. According to his agent Diego Tavano, Gianluca Nani, who serves as sporting director for both Watford and Udinese, made an initial call back in August, when everything was still up in the air, and postponed talks until the winter transfer window. Interest from Premier League clubs including Liverpool, Everton, Brentford, and Bournemouth had come in, as had approaches from the Bundesliga and MLS. But Bove chose Watford, and the story of why begins at an airport.
Speaking to Sky Sports News in an exclusive interview, Bove recalled the moment that changed everything. He was at Trieste airport, unable to find a taxi to travel to Udine for a Fiorentina match against Udinese, when someone tapped him on the shoulder. It was Nani, who introduced himself as the director of Udinese and Watford and offered him a ride to the city. During the journey, Nani raised the idea of Bove eventually signing for the club. I was there at the airport and I didn’t know how to go to Udine from Trieste, Bove told Sky Sports News, recalling that he had been on his phone searching for transport options when Nani appeared. I turned and it was the director Gianluca Nani and he was saying to me ‘I’m the Udinese and Watford director, do you want to come with me?
At the time, Bove had not yet completed all his post-cardiac arrest medical checks. Signing for a football club was not on his mind. But the encounter stayed with him. He later described it as a sign of destiny. Watford’s proximity to London and the Championship’s potential to lead directly to the Premier League ultimately proved decisive, more than any financial considerations. He eventually signed a five-and-a-half-year deal at Vicarage Road.
Throughout his long period of recovery, Bove leaned on those close to him, family, friends, and players who understood what he had been through. Christian Eriksen, who faced a near-identical situation at Euro 2020, was a source of support, with the two players in contact over medical matters as recently as last summer. And there was another figure whose support meant an enormous amount to Bove, Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese manager, who had handed Bove his early opportunities at Roma, was among the very first to reach out to the player and his family following the cardiac arrest, according to Bove’s own account in an interview with the Daily Mail. Bove has spoken about the bond between the two as extraordinary.
Mourinho’s confidence in Bove traces back to their time together in Rome. Bove broke into Roma’s first team as a teenager in 2021 and was trusted by Mourinho from the outset. His standout moment for the club came when he scored the only goal in the first leg of Roma’s Europa League semifinal against Bayer Leverkusen, a tie Mourinho’s team won before eventually losing the final on penalties to Sevilla.
Bove has been characteristically clear-eyed about his decision. He told Sky Sport: I didn’t want to sit with my arms folded waiting for a rule change. Watford is not a second choice, it was already my goal to play in England. I like English football, the rhythm. Watford is a club with serious ambition; they have always been in the Premier League and they want to return. He also signed up for an economics degree at university during his recovery period, keeping a plan in reserve. He is still studying for it.
Watford’s medical team believe Bove is approximately four to six weeks from making his debut for the club. When that moment arrives, it will represent one of the more remarkable returns to professional football in recent memory.
By the Numbers
- 4 goals in 12 Serie A appearances for Fiorentina before his cardiac arrest (2024/25 season)
- 14 Italy U21 caps prior to the incident
- 5.5-year contract signed with Watford
- Interest confirmed from Liverpool, Everton, Brentford, Bournemouth, Bundesliga clubs, and MLS sides before Watford was chosen
- First match back: against Preston, his first minute on a pitch in over 12 months
