Watford may keep Jerome Sinclair with the Hornets' first-team squad this season, rather than letting him out on loan as they did in 2016/17.

The 20-year-old striker started both of the club's last two pre-season friendlies before tomorrow's Premier League opener with his former club Liverpool, but had not previously been expected to feature significantly during the campaign.

He signed for £2 million from the Reds last summer, but was used only sparingly by former head coach Walter Mazzarri and spent the second half of the season on loan at Birmingham City, where he would again prove a fringe player.

Sinclair did little to stake his claim in terms of goalthreat during the two matches, which both ended 0-0, but head coach Marco Silva is yet to decide where his future lies this season. 

He said: "I haven’t made the decision yet. He’s a player who I have given many minutes to in pre-season to analyse him as well.

"Until now I haven’t made my decision and while we talk about Jerome, I don’t talk about him only as a striker – he’s different.

"When I look for Stefano or Troy or Andre, they are strikers. Maybe Andre can play on the wing as well but they are strikers.

"For me Jerome can play on the left, on the right and the centre. That’s why I haven’t talked about him until now. And it’s true I haven’t made decisions about everybody, including Jerome."