Watford boss Quique Sanchez Flores believes out-of-favour Tottenham winger Andros Townsend has the qualities to quickly fit into his Hornets team.

Watford have also been linked with his former White Hart Lane team-mate Emmanuel Adebayor, who is currently a free agent.

"He (Townsend) has the characteristics that we are looking for," Flores explained.

"We have players in the side who can play intelligent football but we need skill, we need velocity. We need to make a balance with these players and he has the characteristics.

"I don't like to talk about names but these are the kind of characteristics we are looking for."

But Flores concedes Watford may struggle to persuade Adebayor to be a third-choice striker behind his in-form front two, Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo.

"I can understand why a lot of clubs in England want to sign Adebayor," said Flores.

"He's 31, he has quality, he has experience, he has goals, so I understand that he can choose where he wants to play in the Premier League.

"It's not easy to come here to cover Deeney and Ighalo. They have a high performance every time and they are part of the soul of this team. It's difficult to challenge these players, so we need to be sensitive.

"We need to explain to the players on what condition they're coming to this team. I don't want any players coming here to cover strikers that think they are going to play easily, because it's not the real situation.

"We play with two strikers but it's difficult to take them out of the team, including in the match."