Watford’s Gerard Deulofeu says he is proud to play for the club after turning down offers from elsewhere in the summer.

Having impressed while on loan with the Hornets last term, the Spaniard made a permanent £11.5 million move to Vicarage Road in July and has been in good form since returning from injury at Wolves last month.

He has helped the WD18 outfit continue their strong start to the season and the Hornets currently sit eighth in the table with 19 points this term.

Securing the services of Deulofeu from Barcelona was seen as somewhat of a coup for the Hornets, but the 24-year-old says feeling comfortable at Watford convinced him a permanent switch was the right decision.

“I love the Premier League, I’ve been here on loan and feel comfortable. I feel really good with my team-mates. Now I am proud of signing here,” Deulofeu told Sky Sports.

“When I signed I felt we could have a great season, it has started well so I am happy to be here.

“I had some doubts in the summer, but it is normal because I had some other offers. I chose Watford because it is the best option.”

Deulofeu’s career has been one defined by inconsistency and he has failed to make a lasting impact at a number of clubs despite impressing in spells.

At Barcelona in particular such periods of consistency would go unrewarded as the plethora of stars at the Camp Nou ensured a place in the starting XI was never a certainty.

Playing regularly for Watford is, therefore, Deulofeu’s main objective for the remainder of the 2018/19 season.

He said: “I want to play a regular season and play minutes, enjoying with my team. Sometimes you are in a big team and you didn’t even enjoy it like you can enjoy it here, that’s why I’m here.

“I don’t want to think about the future. First, this season, and after we will see.”

Deulofeu and Watford’s immediate focus will turn to returning to winning ways against Southampton after a 1-0 defeat against Newcastle United last time out.

The trip to St James’ Park saw Javi Gracia’s men create a number of chances and be punished for failing to take them.

While Watford were profligate, Deulofeu says he was happy with the manner of the performance on Tyneside and believes a similar display at St Mary’s on Saturday will provide a positive result.

He said: “We lost against Newcastle but I prefer to lose like we lost, because we played really well in the first half and created chances to kill the game.

“In the Premier League you have to kill the game, it is tough, more away and that happened in the last game.

“We know that’s the way we have to play, so in Southampton we will play like the first half in Newcastle.”