Watford splash out record-breaking £18m to lure Gray from Burnley

Watford have confirmed the signing of striker Andre Gray from Burnley for a club-record transfer fee. Gray, 26, has penned a five-year contract with the Hornets, in what is understood to be a deal worth in the region of £18.5 million.

Watford announced the transfer via a post on the club’s Twitter feed, which read: “It’s a grey day at #watfordfc. Perfect for a spot of @Footballmanager...” before an in-game-style graphic was followed by the player saying in a brief video clip: “Hello, my name is Andre Gray. I am delighted to have joined Watford and cannot wait to get going.”

Gray was in the final year of his contract at Turf Moor, having joined Burnley from Brentford for £9m during the summer of 2015. The forward scored a total of ten goals in 36 appearances for the Clarets last season, having notched 25 goals during the 2015/16 campaign when Burnley won promotion back to the top flight.

Elsewhere, there was bad news for Arsenal yesterday when manager Arsene Wenger confirmed Alexis Sanchez will miss at least the first two games of the Premier League season with injury.

Wenger said that Sanchez sustained an abdominal strain on Sunday – hours before Arsenal’s win over Chelsea in the Community Shield at Wembley – and will be out for “two weeks or one more week”.

Sanchez has been heavily linked with a move away from the Emirates this summer, with Arsenal having failed to qualify for the Champions League, but Wenger wouldn’t say if any bids had come in for the player.

“I can’t tell you that at the moment,” he said. “We are not open to any offers, anyway.”

Arsenal play Leicester City at home tomorrow night in the opening game of the season.

0 Andre Gray: Ten goals.