Marco Silva revealed Steven Berghuis' imminent departure from Vicarage Road came after the winger told him he no longer wanted to play for the club.

Berghuis has been the subject of much intrigue both in Hertfordshire and the Netherlands this summer, with Feyenoord making no secret of their pursuit of a player who scored eight times on loan for the Eredivisie champions last season.

He seems set to return to De Kuip in the coming days - and after today's friendly draw with Aston Villa, Silva said the player had been the instigator of any move on the horizon.

He said: "Steven started on the first day of pre-season, and had two very good weeks with me.

"He had a good attitude and I was really happy with him. He came to me and said he wanted to leave the club and didn’t want to stay. The Premier League is a big fight, it’s a very hard competition and we go to war with players who want to stay with us.

"If players don’t want to stay with us, it’s for the board to decide what to do. Now is the moment we look for new players for the position. It’s not official but maybe he will leave the club because he wants to go."