Lewis McGugan says his move to Sheffield Wednesday from Watford ended his 'prolonged agony' at Vicarage Road

The languid midfielder completed a £300,000 switch to the Owls on Thursday after two years with the Golden Boys.

The 26-year-old joined the Hornets on a free transfer from Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2013 and made 37 appearances, scoring 11 times, in his debut campaign.

McGugan’s second season at Watford was an unhappy one, however. Former Hornets boss Slavisa Jokanovic stopped the midfielder training with the first-team and he was twice sent out on loan to Wednesday.

“I had a very good first season under Gianfranco Zola, but after he left for whatever reason I hardly played for Watford again,” McGugan told the Sheffield Star.

“From finishing as the club’s second top scorer the previous season I was not involved and things started to unravel.

“The upheaval in the change of managers does not help anyone and it seemed my face didn’t fit, but it came from nowhere after the success of my first season at the club.

“The club have a way of working and it is one of those things, but things didn’t work out the way I expected them to especially after my first year under Zola.

“I knew I was fighting a losing battle if I stayed at Watford because I don’t think they really wanted me around the club so there was no point prolonging the agony.”

McGugan’s move to Wednesday was a protracted one and it took several days to be completed.

The former England youth international claims that is because Watford continued to “move the goalposts” when a deal was close to being sealed.

He said: “Obviously it has been frustrating that the move kept getting delayed and it seemed when it got close Watford would move the goalposts a bit and we were back at square one again.

“It is difficult and stressful as you want to know where you stand so that you can prepare for the new season, but I have been professional and went back to pre-season training and got my head down.

“I was hoping we would get the deal done early in the week but, for whatever reason, that didn’t happen. But that’s in the past now. Now it’s over with and I’m here which is the most important thing.

“It was a stressful three or four days but luckily everyone came to an agreement.”

The Watford Observer are currently in Germany in order to cover Watford's pre-season training camp. The trip has been kindly sponsored by DAS Heating, Bathrooms & Lighting Supplies Ltd. Visit www.dasheating.co.uk/shop/ for more information.