Watford have strengthened their defensive options by signing Kortney Hause on a season-long loan from Aston Villa.

It was feared that the Hornets’ chances of capturing the 27-year-old might be scuppered when the possible transfer of Ismaila Sarr to the Villains fell through.

The potential deal for Sarr included Hause coming in the other direction on loan, possibly with another player from Villa Park.

Despite media assertions at the end of last week and over the weekend that a price had been agreed and the Sarr deal was done, that was never the case - and by last night Watford officials were aware that Villa had gone cool on the idea.

However, the Hornets have been in the market for a left-footed centre-half this summer and Hause is a player that head coach Rob Edwards identified very early on in the summer as someone that matched what he was looking for.

Therefore the club pursued the loan deal for Hause, notwithstanding the outcome of any further interest in Sarr from Villa, or anyone else.

Born in Redbridge, Hause was with West Ham and Birmingham City as a youngster before moving to Wycombe Wanderers.

The former England Under-21 international made 23 league appearances for the Chairboys before moving to Wolves in January 2014.

Hause had a spell on loan at Gillingham later that year and went on to make 67 appearances during five years at Molineux.

He initially moved to Villa Park in January 2019 before the move was made permanent for £3million that summer.

The defender, who has yet to play this season, has made 32 Premier League appearances for Villa, his last goal coming when he scored an 88th-minute winner for Steven Gerrard’s side to give them a 1-0 victory at Manchester United last September.