Arteta agrees new five year deal with Everton

Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta has committed his future to the Premier League club by agreeing a new five-year deal.

The 28-year-old Spanish playmaker has joined teammates Tim Cahill, Jack Rodwell and Leighton Baines in agreeing new terms at Goodison Park.

"What this summer has made me realise is how important I am to the club and how important the club is to me," Arteta, who had been linked by British media with a move away from the club," told the side's official website.

"We are all seeing the club and the future in the same way and that is special -- something that you don't always find," he added.

The former Rangers midfielder has twice been named the club's player of the season and has been an integral part of the team since moving to Merseyside in January 2005 from Real Sociedad.

"Mikel Arteta is one of the finest players ever to wear an Everton shirt and over the past few weeks his pride in wearing that shirt has helped our conversations hugely," Everton chairman Bill Kenwright said.