When Marco Motta missed out on a move to Manchester City in 2010 his dream of playing in the Premier League might have passed for good, but five years later it has been re-kindled after joining Watford.

The 28-year-old signed for the Hornets last week after being released by Juventus and made his debut in Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Fulham. Yet it could all have been so different for the once-capped Italian international.

After Roberto Mancini succeeded Mark Hughes as manager at Manchester City, the former – and current – Internazionale boss tried to bring Motta to the Etihad Stadium during his first transfer window.

But Motta, then of Roma and having previously turned out for Udinese, Atalanta and Torino, was asked to remain in Rome by the club's owners.

He told the Gazzetta dello Sport: “I was close to moving to the Premier League with Manchester City in 2010 when Roma were fighting for the Scudetto. I called Roberto Mancini but Giallorossi officials convinced me not to go and I didn’t sign the deal.”

Roma eventually finished as runners up to Mancini’s former club, missing out on the Scudetto by two points. But Motta was on the move, joining Turin giants Juventus on loan from Udinese with the option to make the move permanent at the end of the season.

His time with The Old Lady was not a success personally. Whilst the team won three Serie A titles during his five-year stay, Motta found himself on the periphery and out on loan at Catania, Bologna and Genoa.

Motta featured in pre-season for Max Allegri's side but was not in the former Milan boss’ plans and left Juventus in January having last played a league match for the club in December 2013.

“I could have stayed in Serie A but I have wanted to play in England for a long time,” he explained. “In July I wanted to stay at Genoa but I had to return to Juventus and once again it was not my decision.

“Now I want to make up for lost time and play in the Premier League. Here the football is less poisonous than it is at the top of the European game,” he added.

Hornets head coach Slavisa Jokanovic does not conduct transfer negotiations himself. They are handled by owner Gino Pozzo, sporting director Luke Dowling and chief executive Scott Duxbury.

However, the Serbian did make the final decision to bring Motta to Vicarage Road.

Speaking after the win at Leeds United, he explained: “It was a very fast decision to sign Marco and we only have 12 games in front of us. My decision was that he stays with us.

“If you ask me if I had been following Motta for two months? No. I looked at him for a few days and it was my decision to sign Marco Motta.”

Jokanovic added: “He is an experienced player and has a very nice CV; he has played for many important teams in Italy.

“I will need a little bit of time to know exactly what type of player I have in my hands. Like I’ve said I won’t depend on 11 players, especially at this point of the Championship, I need everyone to be ready to help us.

“We will check him and he has the possibility of helping us in the future.”

Motta made his first Watford appearance in the starting XI on Tuesday night in the 1-0 win over Fulham.