Watford star Ismalia Sarr admits he turned down the chance to join Barcelona in 2017.

The Senegalese winger scored a brace to help Watford defeated Liverpool last weekend.

But his career could've turned out far differently if he didn't chose to join Rennes from Metz.

He told the Hornets' official website of rejecting the chance to join Barca: "When I moved to Rennes in 2017, it was a last-minute transfer.

"It is true that I chose Rennes over Barcelona and I made this decision because I didn't want to go to Barcelona to just sit on the bench or play in the B level.

"I wanted to play, I just really wanted to play and that's why I chose to go to Rennes.

"I heard many good things about the place. I didn't know anyone there before joining, though. It didn't matter for me that the club was in France, all I cared about was playing.

"I didn't feel any pressure from the big transfer fee, I never feel that kind of pressure with transfer prices.

"We had a good season when I went to Rennes. We finished fifth in the first season and we finished lower in the league the second season, but we won the Coupe de France, so we were really pleased because we qualified for the Europa League."