Heurelho Gomes has told of how grateful he is to Watford for giving him a last minute phone call and an “amazing” subsequent five years at Vicarage Road.


The Brazilian goalkeeper was packed and ready to return home to find a new club after leaving Tottenham Hotspur, but a late call from the Hornets changed everything.


“I’m grateful, they have been amazing with me, I love to play for a club like this,” he said.


“My contract was going to finish with Tottenham, everything was packed to go to Brazil, we had sent two containers back already and the day before my flight I got a call from Watford, so it changed my life.”


Gomes has all but confirmed that he will be leaving the club at the end of the season and is preparing to say goodbye after what he believes has been a period with the Hornets.


He said: “It will be emotional of course, almost five years of, I believe, successful football with Watford.


“When I first came here we got promoted in the first yea. It was a great achievement for the club. 


“We are doing what we planned at that time, to be a Premier League team and today we can say that we are a proper Premier League team, doing exactly what we planned in that time.”


Gomes is expected to play in Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final with Crystal Palace, which could be his last game at Vicarage Road.


He said: “I’m looking forward to it, it can be a big farewell for me. If I’m playing or not, most important is the team winning.”