Watford have confirmed the signing of striker Andre Gray from Burnley for a club-record transfer fee. The 26-year-old has signed a five-year contract in a deal worth in the region of £18.5m.

Watford announced the transfer via a post on the club’s Twitter feed, which read: “It’s a grey day at watfordfc. Perfect for a spot of FootballManager...” before an in-game-style graphic was followed by the player saying in a brief video clip: “Hello, my name is Andre Gray. I am delighted to have joined Watford and cannot wait to get going.”

Gray was in the final year of his contract at Turf Moor, having joined Burnley from Brentford for £9m during the summer of 2015.

The forward scored a total of 10 goals in 36 appearances last season, having scored 25 goals during the 2015-16 campaign when Burnley won promotion back to the top flight.

In September last year, Gray was banned for four matches after being found guilty by the Football Association of bringing the game into disrepute over homophobic posts he made on Twitter in 2012.

Gray, who progressed through Shrewsbury’s youth system, joined Luton in 2012 and made more than 100 appearances before moving on for an undisclosed fee in 2014 to Brentford, for whom he scored 20 goals in 52 games.

Marco Silva has been busy reshaping his Watford squad before Saturday’s home game against Liverpool. The 20-year-old Brazilian forward Richarlison has joined from Fluminense for £13m after a successful work permit application. Tom Cleverley’s loan from Everton has become a permanent transfer, while Nathaniel Chalobah has arrived from Chelsea. The right-back Kiko Femenia, the midfielder Will Hughes and the goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann have also signed.