Abdoulaye Doucoure has joined Watford on a four and a half year deal from Ligue 1 side, Stade Rennais.
Doucoure is a French under-21 international and the move is one that has been brewing since last summer.
It was also revealed that Doucoure will go on-loan to La Liga strugglers, Granada, for the remainder of the season on a six month move.
Always on the cards
At first the transfer was thought to have broken Watford's transfer record with the deal rumoured to be in the £8 million variety. However, the official announcement never quoted a fee but said that it was undisclosed.
Doucoure describes himself as a deep lying playmaker however for the latter part of his time at Rennes he has played in the number 10 role behind the striker.
The new Watford man is tall in stature and is known for his lean body and long legs. What is most surprising about him is that he is relatively quick and comfortable dribbling with the ball.
Has Doucoure got the ability?
This season Doucoure has played 18 times, some of which of the bench, and has scored three goals. What Watford fans would find most pleasing is that the Frenchman has a pass accuracy of 87%.
At Rennes Doucoure linked up well with the wingers at either side, especially Paul-Georges Ntep. At one point last season, Doucoure and Ntep were in the top three in Europe for partnered goals and assists, only beaten by Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid and Lionel Messi and Neymar at Barcelona.
There are some weaknesses in Doucoure's game. The most glaring of which is his shooting ability. It has become a running gag with the Rennes faithful never to be confident with him in front of goal. Most times he puts too much back-lift on his shots and send them over the bar.
The first talk of the move was back in the last transfer window, however talks broke down and Doucoure returned to Rennes to continue his season with the Ligue 1 club. There didn't seem to be any hitches this time and the midfielder has now become a Watford player.
Thoughts of a move on transfer deadline day were heightened when Doucoure was benched for the trip away to Bordeaux on Sunday evening. He never featured as his Rennes side were easily dispatched by four goals to nil by their opponents.