Watford FC pulled off a coup with Carlisle United transfer - he scored 41 goals and raked in £3.5m | OneFootball

Watford signed a striker from Carlisle United in the summer of 2009.

Watford hit the jackpot when they signed a striker from Carlisle United in the summer of 2009.

In 2009, Carlisle were desperate to keep hold of their star striker, Danny Graham, who had scored 29 goals in League One across two seasons in Cumbria, helping the club reach the play-offs in 2008 and avoid relegation the following campaign.

However, the then 23-year-old turned down the offer of a new contract at Brunton Park, as he had his sights set on a move to a higher level during the summer transfer window.

At the time, Watford had just finished 13th in the Championship, and with the futures of Tamas Priskin and Tommy Smith in doubt, they were in the market for a new striker ahead of the 2009/10 season.

Graham signed for Watford in July 2009 after his contract at Carlisle had expired, with a compensation figure worth an eventual £350,000 being decided by a tribunal.

Priskin and Smith then joined Ipswich Town and Portsmouth respectively before the end of the transfer window, leaving an opportunity for Graham to become the main man up front for the Hornets.

Graham starred at Vicarage Road

Graham hit the ground running at Watford, as he scored six goals in his first nine Championship games for the club, before going on to finish the season with 14 goals in the league.

His second season was even more impressive than his first, as he netted a remarkable 24 goals in the second tier and won the division's Golden Boot award.

Graham was also named in the 2010/11 Championship PFA Team of the Year and was voted Watford Player of the Season, at the end of what had been a special campaign for the striker.

Unfortunately for Watford, even with an in-form Graham up front, they finished 16th and 14th during his two seasons at the club, so despite the fact he had penned a new deal in September 2010, there was always going to be a risk that another club would try and secure his services during the summer of 2011.

Newly-promoted Premier League side Swansea City signed Graham for a fee of £3.5 million in June 2011, bringing an end to his time at Watford, during which he scored 41 goals for the club in all competitions.

Watford pulled off a coup by signing Graham

Considering that Watford signed Graham for a compensation fee and sold him for £3.5 million, it would be fair to say that the deal to bring him to Vicarage Road from Carlisle was a real coup, especially given the fact he also scored 38 goals in the Championship.

He went on to enjoy a respectable career in the top-flight with Swansea, Hull City and Sunderland, before signing for Blackburn Rovers and being a fairly regular source of goals for them in the Championship.

The 24 goals that Graham scored for Watford during the 2010/11 campaign comfortably make it the highest-scoring season of his career, and he looks back on his time at Vicarage Road fondly, as per an interview with The Athletic in 2019.

"I had two of the best years of my career there," said Graham.