The raw pace, power and versatility of Andre Gray and Richarlison attracted Watford head coach Marco Silva to splash almost £30 million on the pair.

The 39-year-old finally got his wish of new arrivals this week, with the duo becoming the Hornets' first signings since mid-July on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, as the club received a much-needed boost to its forward line ahead of Saturday's Premier League opener with Liverpool.

Both will bring more goals to the Watford attack, undoubtedly, with Richarlison netting 15 for Fluminense during 2017, and Gray on target nine times in the Premier League for Burnley last season.

But Silva sees more than just firepower in his two new buys, with both offering something profoundly different to the club's existing options on the wing and up front.

He said: "We did our homework on Andre and analysed the positions we wanted to sign new players, and of course we saw what he can do for us and it’s easy to see Gray is different from Troy [Deeney] and Stefano Okaka.

"Andre is a good player, that’s the most important thing. I know he’s a player who wanted to come to Watford, which is also important, and improve in his career.

"He’s like Daniel, Kiko, Richarlison, all the other players who have come to us, he has come to fight for his position."

Richarlison's versatility was one aspect of the 20-year-old's game that put him in the mould of the kind of player Silva was looking for during pre-season - and the head coach revealed he sees the Brazilian primarily as a winger after signing on Tuesday afternoon.

He said: "He can play on the sides and in Brazil he played there. He can play as a striker but we singed him as winger – on the right or left. He's a good finisher with both feet and I believe he’s one boy, a young player, who’s a talent and in the future everybody will see it.

"He’s a young boy, but he’s a really talented player. He’s good with the ball, he can play fast and he’s good from deep as well, and I think we needed a player like him in our team."

The Hornets boss is still looking for more additions to his squad before the transfer window slams shut in three weeks' time, and for the first time confirmed a left-back is on his radar, with the position lacking serious competition for incumbent first-choice Jose Holebas.

But he would not confirm whether the Hornets had killed off their interest in Kieran Gibbs - or whether they had ever entertained the thought of a bid for the Arsenal defender.

"There is more to come," he added. "It’s not important to talk about how many at the moment, but we will have some more before the end of the market.

"I don’t want to talk about positions, but it’s easy to look through our squad and see we only have one left-back, so we need another left-back. After that we’ll continue to look at other positions. But I don't want to talk about players at other clubs."