Stories linking Watford with Manchester United winger Facundo Pellistri were somewhat confirmed this morning when Slaven Bilic said the Uruguay international fits the bill in terms of what he thinks the squad needs.

The 21-year-old made his debut for United in the Carabao Cup against Charlton Athletic earlier this week, after moving to Old Trafford from Penarol for £9m in 2020.

“He is a player that I like but it’s difficult to talk about players that are not our players,” said Bilic.

“But we are looking to strengthen and he fits into the areas where we are looking to strengthen.

“Hopefully we are going to do something there.”

Despite the injuries that are plaguing his squad, Bilic said that his view on what the club need to sign in the January transfer window hasn’t changed.

“Just because right now up front and in midfield we have a shortage of players, we can’t go out and bring in a player for a couple of games,” he explained.

“The targets we have now are more or less the same as they were before the injuries started to bite.

“We know what we want to do. We want to strengthen ourselves in a few positions: wingers, strikers and maybe a midfielder.”

The Hornets confirmed the capture of Portuguese full-back Joao Ferreira this week, but Bilic said the signing was “not a priority”.

“Unfortunately so far in the window we have brought in a full-back, and that was not a priority,” he said.

“But hopefully we are going to get these other players, soon. And soon means now really, because the transfer window shuts in a couple of weeks.

“As I said, I didn’t know Ferreira before, but he came and he’s fit and available. He is a right back and you need quality in every position, but at the moment we are ok there.

“Of course we do have players that we knew were coming before the window opened, like Kone and Martins. They are eligible, they can play and they add to the quality and quantity in the squad.

“Martins came back yesterday, he and the club have done everything on time and as far as I know he is available for tomorrow.”

Just like in the August transfer window, Ismaila Sarr has been linked with moves away from Watford, but Bilic sounded confident that would not be happening.

“The best players are always in the market. I read yesterday that Al Ilhal want to sign Messi. But no, we have nothing about Sarr," said Bilic.

“Sarr is with us, he’s in good shape and he seems happy. I speak to him quite a lot, and I noted that he recognised the situation we are in. He’s always been one of the key players, but right now he is the player.

“He is embracing that situation and that is good for us. When Mane was not at the World Cup you could see he did the same for Senegal.”