The Pozzo family have invested around £20 million into the Hornets since their takeover three years ago, the Watford Observer understands.

The Italians, who also own Serie A side Udinese and La Liga’s Granada, bought the club from Laurence Bassini for around £500,000 in 2012.

We understand they had to commit to spending £10 million immediately on purchasing the Hertfordshire team to clear debt which needed resolving imminently. It included a winding up petition from HM Revenue & Customs for the non-payment of tax that could have placed the club in administration.

We understand the Pozzos have invested a further £5 million as working capital in the last three years and have also loaned the club £5.63 million, with £4.9 million of that being spent on the new Sir Elton John Stand. However, we have been told the Pozzos are unlikely to request repayment of the money.

The circa £20 million figure also does not include the playing assets introduced into the squad through the Pozzos’ other teams.

The majority of players who have joined from Udinese and Granada have arrived for nominal fees in deals which have promotion-based sell-on clauses attached. It is unclear how much Watford will have to pay Udinese and Granada following their promotion to the Premier League.

It is almost impossible to calculate the Pozzos’ true investment into the Hornets as the likes of Almen Abdi, Odion Ighalo and Ikechi Anya – who all arrived from Udinese or Granada – would command seven-figure sums and they are not alone in the Golden Boys squad.

So if you take away the money spent resolving debt issues from the Bassini reign and ground improvements, then it appears chief executive Scott Duxbury and owner Gino Pozzo have managed to build a squad capable of securing promotion to the Premier League by only needing to invest an additional £5 million over the course of three years.

The transfer policy and relationship with Udinese and Granada may not sit well with some away from Vicarage Road but being able to all-but balance the books while securing a top-two finish is an impressive feat considering the huge losses accrued by most teams chasing promotion out of the Championship.

And if the Pozzos continue the model employed at Udinese and Granada then Watford should be debt free within two years as promotion to the Premier League will also see the club finally pay off all of the loans to Lord Ashcroft and the other bondholders.

Lord Ashcroft used to control 37.16 per cent of the Hornets through his Fordwat company and was one of several people who loaned the Golden Boys money over a number of years to help keep the club in business.

The former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party is currently owed almost £5.5m by Watford and when the Pozzos took over the club it was agreed that the repayment schedule for Lord Ashcroft – and the other bondholders – would be activated once the club were promoted to the Premier League.

The Hornets have this week confirmed to the Watford Observer the money owed to Lord Ashcroft, former chairman Graham Simpson and non-executive director David Fransen – which equals a total of around £7.34m – will not be paid in one lump sum immediately, instead it will be payable over two years.

We understand Lord Ashcroft is owed almost £5.5m, Fransen is due £1.59m and Simpson is entitled to less than £400,000.

Lord Ashcroft was the major shareholder of Watford prior to Bassini taking control of the Hertfordshire club in 2011.

He had underwritten a £10.14 million bond issue a year before and when the club was taken over by the controversial Bassini, Lord Ashcroft was owed £7.5 million, with Simpson due £592,000 and Watford fan and director Fransen owed more than £2 million.

Bassini’s takeover agreement included deals of covenants to protect the club and the bondholders’ money and it was with the help of one of those that the controversial businessman was steered out of Vicarage Road in 2012 and the Pozzos arrived.

The desire to see Bassini leave the club resulted in Lord Ashcroft and the other men agreeing to the remaining money owed being repaid once Watford were promoted, with Duxbury describing the bondholders as “partners rather than creditors” in 2013.

Watford were taken over by ‘the Pozzo family’ in 2012 before Gino Pozzo, who had been running the club from the start, became the sole owner last summer.

The Hornets are technically independent of Udinese and Granada but the three clubs do share the family’s scouting network and some centralised staff when it comes to analysis.