Quique Sanchez Flores says he is uncomfortable with the number of players currently at Watford but admits he doesn’t know who will leave Vicarage Road before the transfer window closes.

Since winning promotion to the Premier League the Hornets have been busy adding players to their first-team squad.

Twelve additions have been made and the club hope to conclude at least two more deals before the transfer window closes on Tuesday at 6pm.

One of those is Rennes midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure. The Golden Boys hold an interest in the 22-year-old and reports in France state the Hornets have made an £8 million bid.

But the number of signings that have been made this summer has seen Watford’s squad swell to 30 players.

Premier League rules dictate a 25-man squad must be registered after Tuesday’s deadline. Departures are inevitable. But who will leave Vicarage Road doesn’t appear to have yet been decided.

Speaking yesterday (Thursday), Flores said: “There are a lot of players in our squad who are not sure if they will stay or they will leave. 

“For me it isn’t comfortable and I am not happy at the moment. It was a situation we expected when we started pre-season but I hope everything is solved in the next week.

“The players we want will hopefully join. The players we want to stay will stay. And the players who leave go to good teams and continue their careers. But I'm not happy. It is not a good moment for me.”

The Spaniard added: “I think it is probably uncomfortable for Mr Pozzo too. He has the best relationship with the players.

"I’ve worked with these players for two months, he has worked and known some of them for four years.

“We have talked as people, not as an owner and head coach, about solving the situation.

"We know players will need to move at the last moment but they are all training well. They’ve all been professional.

"I am really pleased with the behaviour of the players and it’s not fair on them. But it is football, it does happen.”

Matej Vydra, Fernando Forestieri, Almen Abdi and Gabriele Angella are four high-profile players who have been linked with moves away from Vicarage Road in the past week - only Abdi of that quartet has featured in the Hornets’ three Premier League fixtures.

Scouts from Middlesbrough attended Tuesday’s Capital One Cup defeat at Preston North End to watch the Swiss international but it appears Flores is keen to keep the 28-year-old at Watford. 

The Spaniard eulogised: “I love Abdi. He is the kind of player I’d like to have in the squad. Since I joined I watched matches from last season and I watched pre-season, he is the kind of player who understands the game.

“He can play in different positions. He can play in the middle of midfield, he can play on the side and he can play at the tip of the diamond. I need these kind of players.”

Watford’s head coach also stated he had been impressed with Angella’s performance at Preston and added the Italian centre-back “is learning and has showed me he is ready to play.”

However, when it came to Vydra and Forestieri’s futures, Flores wasn’t as effusive. He said: “Everybody knows their situation. Maybe they will stay or maybe they will leave. I don’t exactly know what the final situation for these players is.

“But they are training well. They are happy to be here with me until the last moment. We will see in one week if they stay with the squad.”

Three players who are likely to leave Watford in the coming days are Daniel Pudil, Essaid Belkalem and Lloyd Dyer.

The trio haven’t been included in the Hornets’ last two Premier League match-day squads and when questioned on their futures, Flores replied: “They are players that we are trying to put at other teams as soon as possible. I don’t like their situation here.”