New Watford signing Will Hughes says it was too hard to turn down the chance to play in the Premier League.

The England Under-21 international penned a five-year contract at Vicarage Road after Derby County agreed an undisclosed fee reported to total £9million for the midfielder.

And Hughes, who made his Derby debut at 16 and has been linked with a series of Premier League clubs in his career, is thrilled to at the prospect of top-flight football.

"I'm massively excited," Hughes told Watford's website. "When it first came out that I was linked, I spoke to my agent and it's been a slow process but I'm very relieved now.

"I've played against Watford many a time in the Championship and I've always enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to a new challenge now, especially in the Premier League.

"Every English player wants to play in the Premier League. Having played in the Championship for so long I gave it a good go to get promoted, but the chance to join a Premier League team was too hard to turn down.

"I'm massively excited, it's a new chapter in my life and I can't wait to get started."

Hughes is likely to feature for England in their semi-final against Germany at the European Under-21 Championship on Tuesday and the 22-year-old said he spoke to a trio of Derby players who used to be at Watford before making the decision to join Marco Silva's side.

"The likes of Ikechi Anya, Matej Vydra and Craig Forsyth have always had good things to say about Watford, so I'm just looking forward to it," Hughes added.

"It's a new challenge for me and one I have been wanting to do for most of my career, so to finally get it over the line is a massive relief for me.

"I think a lot of people have got a perception of me of just being a ball-player, but having played in the Championship for five years you have got to do a lot more than that. I think I bring both sides to my game, with my main strength being creativity. I'm looking to score a lot more goals than I have previously and to set up lots of chances too."