Nordin Amrabat has rebuffed an approach by Watford to bring him back to the club during the January transfer window.

Amrabat was loaned to Spanish side Leganes on September 1 without then-head coach Marco Silva's knowledge.

And he revealed in the Marca newspaper that he snubbed the request from the club, despite his connections with new boss Javi Gracia.

Amrabat played under the Spaniard for 18 months at Malaga, which co-incided with some of the best form of his career.

But the Moroccan winger, perhaps still frustrated at being stripped of the opportunity to enjoy a run in the first-team under Silva, will not be re-uniting with Gracia until at least the start of next season.

He said: “It’s true that Watford called me, called my representative and asked if I wanted to return. I told them I had come for a year. It wouldn’t have been nice to be here for only four months.”

Amrabat has only made seven starts for Leganes in La Liga, but has still impressed with solid performances for the club.

He added: "It’s normal that I didn’t have many opportunities because the coach told me he changes a lot.

"For me it would be better to play 4-5 games in a row. But that way everyone is happy. It’s your style. I respect it. We are doing well.”

His words would appear to be fairly accurate too - despite playing 19 league games so far this season, only six players have featured for more than 1,000 minutes for the club.