Everton have completed the signing of Black Stars winger Christian Atsu on a season-long loan from Chelsea.
The club announced the deal on their official website on Wednesday after the player passed a medical and secured a work permit.
The deal had been mooted for several weeks but appeared to have stalled because Everton could not guarantee him a regular place in the team.
But now the 22-year old will join the Merseyside club for the 2014/2015 season and is available for their Premier League opener at Leicester City on Saturday.
The player told the club’s TV station: “I’m very happy to be joining Everton because it’s a great club, which likes to play football, and it’s a great pleasure to be here.
“Playing in the Premier League has always been a dream for me and I have achieved that dream. This is the biggest level for me to play at. I know that it’s a very competitive league and I believe with hard work we’re going to be successful this season.”
Everton manager, Roberto Martinez, a week ago, stated that he was looking to sign a winger, with the club competing in Europe this season.
He said: “He [Atsu] is a player who fits in with the culture and the way we want to play. He’s a very gifted technical footballer and he’s got the right personality and character to fit in with the group, which is vital.
“He will excite fans because he brings something completely different and a different way of playing to what we’ve got in the squad. He’s a left-footed player who loves taking people on and he’s got a really good understanding of the game for such a young man.
“He also brings extra competition in a position in which we felt we needed a player full of desire and hunger, who really wants to make things happen in the final third of the pitch.”
Atsu who played at the 2014 World cup in Brazil for Ghana starting all three group games as Ghana exited the competition at the group stage.
Martinez said: “For Christian, at 22, to already have played in a World Cup, to have been able to adapt into Portuguese football and into the league in Holland is a really good accumulation of experiences that will be very beneficial, especially with us playing in the Europa League this season.”
Atsu spent last season on loan at Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem, where he was named the club’s player of the season after scoring five goals.
However, with reports that Chelsea Manager, Jose Mourinho, wanted to monitor Atsu’s development in a more competitive league, a move to a Premier league club seemed likely.
Everton, who finished fifth last season, seven points behind fourth-placed Arsenal have also signed Belgium forward, Romelu Lukaku for a club record 28 million pounds from the West London club.
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana