The price tag Watford have placed on Abdoulaye Doucoure has put potential bidders off making a move for the French midfielder.

Watford are understood to have valued the 25-year-old, who was the club’s top scorer last season, at £45 million, a fee which has moved to ward off interest from the Premier League’s top sides.

Doucoure’s superb 2017/18 season had led many to believe he would depart Vicarage Road this summer, and the player himself claimed Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool were all keeping tabs on him.

No offer has materialised from any of those clubs and they are wary of paying over the odds, regardless off Doucoure’s sustained form with the Hornets.

Both Liverpool and Arsenal have signed central midfield players this summer leaving Spurs as the most likely to make a late approach for the Watford number 16.

However, Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has already admitted he may not add to his squad before the transfer window closes next Thursday.

Doucoure has been absent from all of Watford’s pre-season games, but Javi Gracia was quick to stress injury rather than any underlying issue is the cause for the former Rennes man not featuring.