Ireland Under-21 forward Rocco Vata has completed his move to Championship side Watford, penning a four-year contract which includes the option of an additional year.
The 19-year-old arrives from Celtic, where he has been since the age of seven but has found first-team opportunities hard to come by of late, having made just six in total.
The Scottish champions did offer Vata a new deal but he has turned that down in favour of a fresh start in England, having been linked with several clubs in Italy, Belgium and Germany.
Watford will pay Celtic training compensation of an estimated €280,000 under FIFA regulations after the player completed his medical on Thursday.
He spent the majority of last season with the Hoops B team, scoring 13 goals in 16 appearances, while he also netted his first senior club goal in a Scottish Cup fourth round tie last January under Brendan Rodgers.
The Glasgow native is also eligible for Scotland, Montenegro and Albania, with his father Rudi winning 59 caps for the latter during his playing days, but he has represented Ireland at every age level up to U-21s, where he has scored five goals in three caps to date.
He won his latest cap in a friendly draw against England’s U-20s in Croatia last month, and will hope to feature again later this year when Jim Crawford’s side play their final four Euro 2025 qualifiers, as the Young Boys in Green target a first European Championship appearance.
Vata will now link up with his new boss Tom Cleverly and his teammates as pre-season training gets underway ahead of the Hornet’s first league game of the new campaign away to Millwall on Saturday August 10.
The Hertfordshire side finished 15th in last season’s Championship and were last in the top-flight in 2021/22.
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