Joel Ekstrand wasn’t surprised to be released by the Hornets as he “knows the situation at the club” and says that Watford wouldn’t have been the right place to resume his career.

The 27-year-old Sweden intentional damaged his anterior cruciate ligament, meniscus and fractured a bone in his left knee during a game against Ipswich Town at the back end of the 2014/15 season. Little did he know at the time that it would be the last of his 100 appearances for the Golden Boys.

Ekstrand is a realist though, and despite his involvement with Harry Kewell’s Under-21 side last term – making five appearances in the Under-21 Premier League – it became increasingly inevitable that the former Udinese centre-back would bring his Vicarage Road stint to an end this summer after four years at the club.

He was included in the travelling matchday squad for the unforgettable FA Cup quarter-final win at Arsenal and led the Golden Boys out at the Emirates for their pre-match warm-up – something he describes as “Troy Deeney all over”. It was as close as he got to a first-team return despite Quique Sanchez Flores’ insistence he wanted Ekstrand to extend his contract.

“You always hope [you will get back in the first team] and I was in the squad a couple of times,” said Ekstrand yesterday. “But I always knew some things that... I know the situation with the club. It was nice of Quique to take me out [for games]. You can put one and one together really.”

Ekstrand confirmed he was offered a contract, which he rejected, but negotiations broke down after that stage. He previously told the website Svenskafans.com he needed a club which “believes in me” and reiterated the point.

“I’m realistic,” he said. “I didn’t play for the whole season. My main thing now is to play and I don’t think Watford would have been the right place for me with their ambitions now – there are some good defenders which have come in.  “I need to play somewhere where I have a better chance of playing and that’s how my thoughts went. I think the club agreed a little bit. It’s never that we were fighting over this and that.”

He added: “We had talks during the second half of the season. I was offered a contract extension but I wasn’t really happy with it. My main motivation is to play and I think it’s better I go somewhere else to do that.”

Ekstrand’s departure means that Ikechi Anya and Almen Abdi are the only players remaining from the initial influx from Udinese and Granada who are likely to feature under new head coach Walter Mazzarri, though Daniel Pudil and Matej Vydra are on the books too.

Ekstrand is, therefore, well placed to comment on the phenomenal amount of change which has taken place at Watford since he arrived on loan from Udinese a relative unknown.

“The club has changed massively,” said Ekstrand. “The training ground and stadium have been improved and the food at the training ground is a lot better now. It’s been a big change but all for the better.”

Those changes mean Ekstrand is now searching for a new club. When he was stretchered off in agony against  the Tractor Boys in March 2015 he was one of Slavisa Jokanovic’s first-choice centre-backs. The Serbian was subsequently replaced by Flores, himself replaced by Mazzarri this summer. The Hornets’ central defensive options have been upgraded too, with Sebastian Prodl and Miguel Britos the preferred partners to Craig Cathcart.

Ekstrand refuses to lament his luck, however. “I have thought ‘What if I didn’t get injured?’ But I’m 27, not 18. I understand things have consequences,” he explained.

“The club has moved on without me. They had to make signings, they couldn’t wait for me to get better. The club have always treated me well. I would like to have played in the Premier League.”