Filippo Galli harbours hopes of seeing Watford compete in the Premier League again next season.

Galli won the Serie A title five times and the Champions League on three occasions with Serie A giants AC Milan before he joined the Hornets via Brescia in 2001.

After five successive wins Watford sit second in the Championship table as they intend to strengthen their grip on automatic promotion and keep the chasing pack at bay with a win over Sheffield Wednesday after the international break.

Galli, who left the club in 2002 after a solitary season at Vicarage Road, revealed that he still follows the Hornets on a regular basis and is confident they can bounce straight back after suffering relegation last July.

“Of course I still follow Watford and I want to see them back in the Premiership next season," said Galli.

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“They are up there in the table and challenging and I wish Watford Football Club all the best. They have good chances to go up. There is not really a player that stands out for me but I like the fact that the hierarchy built a team that is good enough to win promotion straight away. The club deserves credit.”

Two players who would not be playing with Watford in the Premier League next season, should they go up, are former Hornets Gerard Deulofeu and Roberto Pereyra, both of whom moved to Serie A side Udinese following last season's relegation, which Galli believes is an indication that the Italian league can still attract top talent.

The former Watford man thinks Serie A has lost ground on the Premier League in recent seasons, but still believes it’s an enticing division with many top-drawer players, despite the fact no Italian team has won the Champions League since 2010, while you have to go back all the way to 1999 to find the last Europa League winner from Serie A.

“Times have changed, the contexts have changed, things in the game go faster today," he said.

"It’s never easy to compare different eras such as Serie A in my time with now. But I still think that Serie A is at a high level, it’s an interesting league with some very strong players and top-level players. But it’s clear that in other countries like England, not least from a financial point of view, they have more possibilities to attract stars."