Watford still need "more than three" additions to their squad before the transfer window closes on August 31, in the mind of Hornets boss Marco Silva.

The club have already brought in four first-team players in the shape of Nathaniel Chalobah, Will Hughes, Daniel Bachmann and Kiko Femenia to date, for a combined up-front price of around £10 million.

But Silva feels there is much work still to be done to improve the squad in the final month of the window, and insists it is "clear to myself and the board" what is required.

He said: "Now is the moment to work hard with our players, and in the market because we need to make not one, two or three but more moves in the market.

"It’s clear for me and the board what we need to do, and I hope we can do that because if we want to improve we need to do that.

". I like the ambition the club has, that’s what I want for my career. They weren’t happy with the situation and prove again Watford is a Premier League club but Gino [Pozzo] said to me he and the board want more.

"To do that you need more than just ambition, you need to improve the squad and all these things they said to me we will do, and at that moment I took that decision."

With some astronomical fees being thrown around in the top flight this season and several clubs already spending in excess of £100 million, Silva admitted Watford have become even more of a poor relative to their wealthy European-chasing cousins.

But that has not deterred the 39-year-old Portuguese coach, who has evidently been pleased with the signings the club has made to date.

He said: "When you try to buy players everyone is going to say ‘Premier League, we will double the price’. It’s not easy, and most difficult for clubs like Watford. But we will keep working hard to improve our squad.

"The market is not easy in the world, and for English clubs it’s very difficult. Nathaniel and Will are two very good moves for us, young players who are youth internationals. They are quality players.

"Of course, we look for our English players who know the competition, and if we can we would like to sign more players but it is not easy to find good solutions with our budget."