Watford are looking like they are in a really strong place to go on and secure promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking despite it having been a difficult season for them at times.

The Hornets head into the international break in very good spirits and they have been a team transformed of late under Xisco Munoz, since they switched to a front three and went with a more attack-minded approach to games. That has been enough for them to now take control of the race for the second automatic promotion place.

The club need to get themselves back into the Premier League so they can again start to improve the squad, after they broke their transfer record multiple times during their time back in the top-flight over recent years. That has to be the aim in the remaining matches left in the Championship.

With that in mind, here we have put together a list of the club’s top ten most expensive signings and see where they are now…

Watford’s current 10^th most expensive ever signing is midfielder Will Hughes who arrived at Vicarage Road in the summer of 2017 for a fee of around £8 million and brought to an end a six-season spell with Derby.

Hughes still remains with the Hornets at the moment and is still a key part of their current side. The midfielder managed to make 16 appearances in all competitions in his first season with the club and was Marco Silva’s first signing. He scored two goals in those matches and then the following campaign he was able to stay injury-free and play a major role making 40 appearances and scoring three times.

Last term, Hughes was again heavily involved for the Hornets and he made 27 starts in the Premier League, but that was not enough to help keep the club in the top-flight in what was a very difficult season for all the players at Vicarage Road.

So far this season, Hughes has been an important player in the Championship and he has scored two goals in 22 appearances in the league for them at the time of writing.

Coming in at ninth place on this list is  Tom Cleverley, who has had more than one spell with the Hornets, but makes this list having returned to the club in 2017 with the Hornets paying Everton a fee of around £8.37 million.

Cleverly had initially spent time out on loan with Watford from Manchester United back in the 2009/10 season where he fired in 11 goals in 33 appearances. He then returned for another loan spell from Everton in 2016/17 making 17 appearances in all competitions. That persuaded the club to make his move permanent and in his first campaign he scored once in 25 games.

The 2018/19 season saw the midfielder make just 13 Premier League appearances and scored one goal, with him suffering some injury issues which kept him out of action for spells. Last term the midfielder managed to make 19 appearances in all competitions, but that was not enough for him to prevent them from being relegated.

So far this term, Cleverley has been an important player for the Hornets and he has scored four goals and provided two assists in 30 Championship appearances at the time of writing.

Coming in at eighth place on this list is forward Adalberto Peñaranda who arrived at Vicarage Road for a fee believed to be around £9.54 million in 2016 coming in from Italian side Udinese.

The forward was loaned straight back to Udinese though with the Hornets waiting for a work permit for him so that he could play a part for them in the Premier League. Peñaranda made just seven goalless appearances during his loan spell and was then also shipped off on loan for a short spell in La Liga with Malaga in the latter part of the 2016/17 campaign.

The following summer saw the Hornets once again loan out the forward, this time back to Malaga with who he managed to make 13 goalless appearances in the 2017/18 campaign. During the 2018/19 season, he returned to Watford and was a part of their squad and he finally made his debut for the club in a FA Cup tie with Woking in January 2019.

Peñaranda was again loaned out last season this time to Eupen in Belgium and he made just six appearances with them, he did also score his first goal for the Hornets in a League Cup tie with Coventry City prior to his loan in Belgium. This term he has been shipped out on loan once again to CSKA Sofia.

Coming in at seventh place on this list is midfielder Abdoulaye Doucouré who was certainly a more successful arrival than Peñaranda has been so far. He arrived in the winter transfer window in 2016 for a fee believed to be around £9.54 million.

The midfielder was immediately sent out on loan by the Hornets and completed the 2015/16 campaign with Granada in La Liga where he made 15 appearances in La Liga. He returned to Watford the following summer and became an important member of their squad in the Premier League and made 23 appearances in all competitions on 2016/17 scoring his first goal against Southampton.

Doucouré enjoyed an excellent individual campaign for Watford during the 2017/18 season and he managed to fire in seven goals in the Premier League in 37 games. The midfielder followed that up by netting another five goals in 35 matches in 2018/19. Last term he was able to score another four goals in his 37 league appearances, which was not enough to keep the club up.

In the summer Everton made the move to sign the midfielder following Watford’s relegation from the top-flight and they paid around £25 million to sign him. He has so far managed to score two goals and provide three assists for the Toffees this term.

Coming in at number six on this list is Richarlison who was signed by the Hornets in the summer of 2017 as Marco Silva looked to add some extra attacking quality to the squad. The Brazilian was picked up for around £11 million from Fluminense.

The forward was a revelation at Vicarage Road in his first few months with the club and quickly attracted a lot of attention for his quality in front of goal and at causing problems for opposing defenses with his movement and work rate. He had fired in five Premier League goals fairly quickly, but went off the boil after Silva was sacked and finished the campaign with five goals in 38 games.

Everton had appointed Silva to be their new manager in the summer of 2018 and it was little surprise when the Toffees made a move to sign Richarlison from Watford during that same summer. During his first campaign with the club he managed to fire in 13 Premier League goals in 35 appearances.

Last term, despite Silva losing his job at Everton, the forward once again managed to score 13 league goals in 36 matches. So far this term, he has managed six goals and three assists in 24 games.

In fifth place in Watford’s most expensive signings in their history so far is forward Gerard Deulofeu who was snapped up by the Hornets from Barcelona in the summer of 2018 after an initial loan spell with the club paying around £11.5 million for him.

The winger had spent time on loan with Watford in the second half of the 2017/18 season and had managed to score one goal in seven appearances. In his first full season with the Hornets, the forward provided a real extra attacking spark to the side and was a constant threat for defences. He finished the campaign with 12 goals in all competitions and helped play a key role in getting them to the FA Cup final.

Last season the winger was not able to be as much of a positive influence on the side with a host of managerial changes not really helping him find any consistency. He finished the campaign with just four goals in 28 Premier League appearances, which was not enough to help them survive the drop.

In the summer he was sent out on loan to Udinese and he made 13 appearances in all competitions in the first half of the campaign, before his loan switch was turned into a permanent one in January with him signing a three-and-a-half-year deal.

In fourth place on this list is a player who has not lived up to his name as of yet during his time at Vicarage Road. Isaac Success arrived at the club from Granada in the summer of 2016 with the Hornets paying a then club-record £12.5 million for him.

Success had scored six goals in La Liga in 2015/16, but he was unable to prove to be anywhere near as prolific for the Hornets although he did score at least once in 19 appearances for them in the 2016/17 season. In January of 2018 the decision was made for him to leave the club and make a move on loan to Malaga, but it was another unsuccessful spell for him and he failed to score.

The forward’s best season to date at Watford came in 2018/19 when he returned and played more of an active role within the squad. He finished the campaign with a respectable tally of four goals in 35 appearances in all competitions. However, last term he was back to being a bit-part player and could make seven appearances as the club were relegated.

The 25-year-old has so far this term managed to make just four appearances in the Championship and he has been once again on the periphery of things.

Currently, Watford’s third most expensive signing is Roberto Pereyra with him having been bought by the club from Juventus for a fee of around £13 million in the summer of 2016.

The exciting attacker was an important member of the squad at Vicarage Road throughout his time with the Hornets and he managed to make 13 Premier League appearances in his first season in which he scored two goals. The 2017/18 campaign saw him become more established in the side and he fired in five goals in 32 games in the top-flight.

Pereyra went one better in the 2018/19 campaign and he managed to score six goals and provide one assist in 33 Premier League appearances. However, last term he could not help the club survive the drop despite making a decent contribution with three goals in 28 appearances.

In the summer, the attacker went on to sign for Udinese where he has been a good performer in Serie A and has found the net three times and provided four assists so far this campaign.

In at number two on this list is forward Andre Gray who was signed by Watford from Burnley in the summer of 2017 for a then club-record fee of £18 million.

Gray had been an impressive performer during his time at Turf Moor and had won the Championship’s Player of the Year award in the 2015/16 season for firing in 23 league goals. He then netted a further nine goals in his first season in the top-flight prior to his switch to the Hornets. In his first season at Vicarage Road, he was unable to replicate that level of form finding the net just five times.

In 2018/19 Gray managed to score seven league goals for the Hornets and was an important option in the squad throughout the entire campaign. However, last term saw Gray’s involvement in the side reduced a little and he was able to make just seven starts in the Premier League and scored just two goals all season.

So far this term, Gray has scored four goals in the Championship and provided one assist, but has at times had to watch on the from the bench.

Currently, Watford’s most expensive ever signing by a bit of a distance is forward Ismaila Sarr who arrived at the club in the summer of 2019 from Rennes for a club record fee.

Sarr stood out in the Premier League last season for his ability to commit defenders and drive forward in possession and then also his end product and calmness in the final third. That was despite him playing in a Watford side that were struggling near the relegation zone and who changed managers a few times.

The forward managed to finish the season with five goals and four assists in 28 Premier League appearances. He has been linked with moves away from the Hornets in both the summer and January windows this season following their relegation but still remains with the club.

To date this term, Sarr has managed to fire in nine goals and provide four assists in 33 Championship appearances. He will be crucial if the Hornets are to earn promotion.