Watford Chairman Scott Duxbury has dismissed claims that the Hornets enquired about Hull City star Jacob Greaves and were put off by his price tag.

With Brazilian defender Samir set to depart Vicarage Road, the club are exploring options to replace him, and reports over the weekend suggested one of the players the Hornets had previously considered was the Hull City centre-half.

The Athletic report claimed that the Hornets had made 'enquiries' regarding Greaves' availability this summer, with his asking price, said to be in the region of £5-7 million, deemed too high following the club's drop to the Championship.

However, in his latest interview with Hornets reporter Andrew French, the Watford chairman has rubbished this claim.

“That is simply made up,” Duxbury explained via the Watford Observer.

“I find it really annoying having to explain a situation about a player that we’ve never even enquired about.

"That player wasn’t even on our radar."

Continuing further, Duxbury explained that the club were working on bringing in the player Hornets head coach Rob Edwards wants.

“Rob narrowed his search down to two players, both homegrown, left-sided defenders." he added.

"He then selected the one he wanted, and we are working on that deal.

"The player you mentioned didn’t come into our considerations. I wouldn’t know what fee is being asked for him because I never made any enquiries about him.”

Watford's Championship campaign gets underway on Monday night when the club host Sheffield United at Vicarage Road.

The Verdict

This is certainly an interesting development.

It really is not often we hear such a key figure go on public record regarding transfers, but Duxbury is clearly frustrated with the narrative surrounding Watford that they are not willing to spend money on the right players.

Duxbury's explanation that it is between two left-footed, homegrown options to replace Samir, though, does back up The Athletic's report that the club are considering Brighton's Matt Clarke and Aston Villa's Kortney Hause.

It will certainly be interesting to see which of those arrive at Vicarage Road, and if it will be Rob Edwards' preferred option. Not that we will likely ever know.