Joao Pedro's move to Watford could be helping his Fluminense team-mates get paid, according to a story published in Brazil.

The same story also suggests he may not move to Vicarage Road until June 2020, which ties in with comments made by the striker's mother last month.

Reports in January revealed that Fluminense were under great financial pressure, with well-respected South American football journalist Tim Vickery reporting the club had been forced to tear up the contracts of some of their senior players whose wages they could not afford to pay.

This allowed younger players like Joao Pedro, who is still only 17, to be given a chance in the first team.

Since then, Pedro has proven himself to be something of a revelation, scoring nine goals in 16 games, and the story, which appeared in Brazil's Globo Esporte on Tuesday, suggests that his performances have even gone some way to paying backdated wages for some of his team-mates.

The deal to bring Pedro to Vicarage Road is reported to have contained a number of performance-related bonuses included in which was an extra €100,000 for the player making an appearance of 45 minutes or more, for up to ten performances, adding up to a total of €1million.

Having already crossed that threshold this season, Fluminense are thought to have been able to pay off a month's worth of delayed salaries with the extras they are set to recoup.

Other bonuses reportedly included in the deal are a €1.5m fee to be paid when Joao Pedro is registered as a Premier League player and two further €1m appearance-related performances, which will take into account games played with Watford.

However, Hornets fans may not get to see the player in the Premier League until after the upcoming season, with the story reporting that there is also the possibility of an agreement to postpone his move to England.

Last month the striker's mother Flavia and step dad Carlos visited Vicarage Road and the club's London Colney training ground, after which Pedro's mother told a local radio station that, all being well, he would join Watford "not in January, but in the middle of 2020".