Walter Mazzarri has spoken of his admiration for Barcelona defender Thomas Vermaelen, but refused to entertain rumours he is considering a move for the 31-year-old.

Vermaelen, the Watford Observer understands, has taken the interest of the heirarchy at Vicarage Road ahead of a potential summer move to Hertfordshire, but is one of several players whose progression they are tracking.

Mazzarri admitted he was a fan of the Belgium international but put off any transfer talk with three games of the Premier League season remaining.

He said: "Vermaelen is a very good player but I don’t want to talk about the transfer market; we’ve still got three games left, three very difficult games.

"At the end of the season, we can talk about it. But now I want all of my players looking to the next three games."