The loan signing of Portuguese Under-21 international striker Henrique Araujo has got Slaven Bilic excited.

In fact, to quote the Watford head coach: “I am very, very excited because there is no doubting his talent. He is a very, very positive signing

“As soon as his name was proposed, I liked it. I fell in love with the guy. His movement, everything about him.

“We wanted him, I’m sure he will help us.

“He won’t be available to play tomorrow but hopefully he might come to the game, and then he’ll be available for the game at Middlesbrough.”

Benfica value Araujo so highly they gave him a new contact in November that runs to 2027, and it includes a €100m buy-out clause.

He was courted by the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Real Madrid at the end of last season and experts on Portuguese football believe Watford really have pulled off a coup in getting Araujo for the rest of the season.

“He’s a young player coming from Benfica, and we know Benfica are a club that is producing players that if they make it then by the time they are 23/24/25 they come to England for £50m, £60m, £70m, or even £100m. He is one of those,” said Bilic.

“He has done nearly all of his work for Benfica B, Benfica Under-21s, Portugal Under-21s, because it’s almost impossible to start as a number nine when you are only 20 years old.

“We have a lot of young players, we have a couple of Portuguese guys who can talk to each other. We have a lot who speak Spanish who can also speak some Portuguese. Therefore I hope he will not need a lot of time to settle in.

“That is an important thing as we want to start using him straight away.

“I’m expecting a lot from him,” said Bilic, before adding tantalisingly, “but hopefully he will not be the only one we sign before the transfer window shuts.”