Watford are ready to hand Abdoulaye Doucoure a massive new contract.

The Mirror says the Hornets will not sell their six-goal top scorer, in the number-crunchers' top 10 for the most completed passes this season, at any price in the January transfer window.

And they are understood to have opened talks with Doucoure, who will be 25 on New Year's Day, about an improved contract worth up to £70,000-a-week.

Head coach Marco Silva has described his box-to-box sensation as the “heartbeat" of Watford's season.

Arsenal, who train next door to the Hornets at London Colney, are among the big hitters tracking Doucoure, whose market value has soared way beyond the £6 million they paid Rennes to bring him to English football in January 2016.