It says much about the calibre of player Watford are now able to attract to Vicarage Road that new signing Sebastian Prodl has rubbed shoulders with a World Cup-winning duo currently plying their trade at Arsenal.

The 27-year-old Austrian centre-back joined the Golden Boys on a five-year deal on Monday after announcing via Facebook he would leave Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen at the end of his current contract, ending a seven-year association with Die Werderaner (The River Islanders).

Prodl became the Hornets’ first signing since promotion to the Premier League was secured.

In order to gain greater insight into the kind of player the experienced defender is, we spoke to Archie Rhind-Tutt, a reporter for BT Sport’s European Football Show, focused on the Bundesliga.

“He is big so his pace is not his greatest exponent. I have seen him live a few times this season and he is not the quickest. He is quite intelligent and a well-rounded defender though,” Rhind-Tutt said when asked what type of defender Prodl was.

Former club Bremen finished the 2014/15 campaign tenth in the Bundesliga, slap bang in the middle of the pack – eight points above the relegation play-off spot and eight points shy of Schalke 04 in the final Europa League berth also.

In his first season at the Weserstadion, Prodl and Bremen also finished tenth but lost out to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Europa League Final after clinching second a season earlier to qualify for the Champions League, crashing out of a group which included Internazionale, Panathinaikos and Anorthosis Famagusta.

German internationals Tim Wiese and Torsten Frings were both part of the side beaten by Shakhtar, as well as one-time Chelsea forward and Peruvian cap Claudio Pizarro and former West Bromwich Albion striker Markus Rosenberg.

But there were more glamorous names alongside Prodl too.

“With the experience he has you would say mentally he is quite strong too, especially with what he has achieved in his career. He has played alongside Per Mertesacker and Mesut Ozil at Werder Bremen,” said Rhind-Tutt.

“He is towering and a big character too. He was vice-captain at Werder Bremen and has played in the Europa League Final and the Champions League – this is a player with big pedigree.

“Of course, he has never been relegated and has played at a big club, albeit one that is ailing.”

Ozil and Mertesacker are two successful German exports who have thrived in the Premier League but the trade route between the Bundesliga and the Premier League is not a new one.

Stretching as far back as former Tottenham Hotspur hitman Jurgen Klinsmann – who made his name with Vfb Stuttgart prior to joining Spurs in 1994 – there have been a number of success stories and Rhind-Tutt expects the latest to follow suit.

“I think he can cope,” he commented. “I look at this mould of defender and say Brede Hangeland came over and did a very good job at Fulham. So long as there is the right environment then he can succeed. Mentally you are getting a strong player.

“I would say his lack of pace is his major weakness. We know how quick Premier League strikers are but it is nothing he won’t have faced in the Bundesliga.

“I think the key is getting the right players around him. If you surround him with a few quicker players you will get the best out of him. His passing can also be a bit iffy too.”

More studious observers will have noticed Bremen ended the campaign with the joint-worst defensive record in the league, conceding comfortably more than second-bottom SV Freiburg.

However, Rhind-Tutt says that should not be a cause of concern for Hornets supporters.

He said: “They had a change of coach midway through the season and after the last game before going into the winter break they were bottom of the Bundesliga. So from the Europa League final to a relegation battle, he has seen it all.”