A total of 15 players have been handed professional contracts by Watford.

After a season when a number of Academy players either played for the first team, or were part of the squad, it’s another step towards the club becoming more self-sufficient than it has in recent years.

Goalkeeper Gabriel Ortelli, who had a spell on loan with local non-league side Kings Langley last season, has signed a contract, as has defender George Abbott, who has battled back to fitness following a broken ankle sustained while on loan at Potters Bar Town last term.

Abbott has regularly captained the Hornets Under-21 side and also had the honour of skippering the Wales Under-19 team in a game against Scotland in 2023.

Aidan Coyne moved to England from Australia, where he had played for Perth Glory, in November 2022. He was on the bench when Watford won at QPR last season, and has now signed a professional deal.

So too has forward Jake Watkiss, who came to Watford a year ago having been a scholar at Stevenage.

Another striker to have signed a contract is Laken Torres who moved to Vicarage Road last summer after an impressive spell with Chesterfield.

Goalkeeper Roraigh Browne has signed a contract – he had loan spells last season with Northwood, Walthamstow and Chertsey Town.

Midfielder Leo Ramirez-Espain has been with Watford since an Under-10, and he has signed pro terms after impressing in two games with the first team this pre-season.

His fellow midfielder Prince Sikiru has also put pen to paper on a professional contract, having joined Watford in 2017.

Midfielder Zak Fraser-Grante, formerly with Hampton and Richmond Borough, and ex-Cray Valley striker Jonathan Lawson both joined Watford 12 months ago and have now signed pro forms.

Defender Josh Mullins has been at the club since he was nine, and last season helped Bedford Town claim promotion from Southern League Division One Central while on loan. He has signed a professional contract along with Spanish-born winger Ignacio Garcia-Romero, who moved to Watford last summer.

Zavier Massiah-Edwards made his senior debut on the final day of the season at Middlesbrough, and he has also signed pro terms with the Hornets alongside Bentley Assiedou and Josh Keyes, who both featured for the Under-21s in their pre-season friendly at Kings Langley this week