Watford have confirmed the signing of defender Ryan Porteous on a four-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

The Scotsman was at the training ground this morning to finalise the transfer and head coach Slaven Bilic discussed the move earlier.

The 23-year-old Scottish international’s name has been linked with both Watford and Udinese in recent weeks, and there was reportedly interest from other English clubs too.

Suggestions are that Blackburn Rovers actually outbid the Hornets, but Porteous preferred the moved to Vicarage Road.

A Hibernian fan as a child, Porteous had a spell at Aberdeen as a youngster before returning to Edinburgh and signing for his hometown club.

He made 24 appearances and scored three goals during a loan spell with Edinburgh City during the 2016/17 season, before breaking into the Hibs first team in the 2017/18 campaign.

He also played for the club’s Under-20 team that season, helping them to win both the SPFL Development League and the Scottish Youth Cup.

He became a first-team regular in the 2020/21 season, clocking up 42 league appearances, with Hibs reportedly turning down a £1m bid from Millwall during the January 2021 transfer window.

Last season a couple of red cards limited his first-team outings slightly, and this season he has been a first-team regular with three goals in 27 appearances.

Porteous started Hibs’ last game, a 3-0 defeat to rivals Hearts in the Scottish Cup, on Sunday.

This season Hibs have been managed by the former Watford midfielder Lee Johnson.

The defender earned his first full Scotland cap in a Nations League game with Ukraine in September, after earning 14 Under-21 caps.