Watford have confirmed the signing of midfielder Hector Kyprianou, who arrives from Peterborough United on a free transfer.
A player Watford have pursued through the last three transfer windows, the 23-year-old was able to leave London Road for nothing as his contract will come to an end on June 30, and he will have turned 24 before then.
“I have no doubt Posh will be successful again very soon, but I felt it was time to move on,” he told the club’s Posh Plus recently.
“I said on day one I was ambitious so I had to take this opportunity. I’ve never been motivated by money and never will be.”
The club's director of football Barry Fry told the Peterborough Telegraph: “Watford have been keen on Hector for a while and they asked for permission to speak to him which we granted.
“I’ve told them they can save us a few quid by signing him and paying his wages instantly, but I suspect his contract with Watford won’t start until July 1 which means we will have to keep paying him until then."
Despite his relatively young age, Kyprianou has already amassed more than 200 senior appearances having made his debut for Leyton Orient not long after his 18th birthday.
He had started his career in the Academy system at Tottenham before moving across London to Orient and played for their Under-18s.
He gained game time via a number of work experience loans, firstly a month with Harlow Town, then a longer spell with Bishops Stortford where he made 21 first-team appearances, and finally played just one game for Hampton and Richmond Borough.
His first taste of international football came when he was picked to play for Cyprus Under-19s and went on to earn six caps, and a further three for the Under-21s.
Kyprianou made his senior debut for Orient in an EFL trophy game against Brighton Under-21s in November 2019.
The 19/20 season saw the midfielder register eight outings for the east London side, and then he chalked up 25 the following campaign as well as his first goal, which came in an FA Cup tie against Newport County.
He really made his breakthrough in 21/22, making 46 outings and playing in 38 of the O’s 46 League Two games, and that attracted the attention of League One Peterborough United, who paid Orient a reported £400,000 for his services.
In his first season he registered another 46 senior outings and also scored three league goals, before following up in 23/24 with a further 54 first-team appearances, scoring eight goals in the process.
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Last summer Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson named Kyprianou as his captain, and after missing the first two games of the season with a fractured wrist he went on to make 40 appearances and score five goals.
One of those five came in the final of the Vertu Trophy at Wembley in April when Peterborough beat Birmingham 2-0, retaining the trophy they had won 12 months earlier.
"That was the best day of my life,” Kyprianou admitted
“To win that game with this group of players, as big underdogs, to score a goal, to captain the side and then celebrate with our amazing fans afterwards... well you just can’t top that.”
Kyprianou made his senior debut for Cyprus in a 4-0 defeat to Norway in October 2023 in a Euro 24 qualifier, and now has 10 full caps – the most recent was in a 4-0 Nations League win over Kosovo in September.
