Neville New Deal

Phil Neville has signed a new four-year deal that will extend his stay at Everton until 2012.

The Blues' skipper still has two years remaining on his current contract but is delighted to have committed himself for an even longer period.

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"First of all I am really proud that the club has offered me a 4-year contract," he exclusively told evertonTV. "I've been here three seasons now and I have to say that I've loved every minute of it.

"I'd like to think that I have immersed myself into the club culture. It's something I had to do after being at one club for about 16 years but it was easy for me to do because from day one this club sucks you in. From the outside looking in you don't know what to expect but I found when I came here that the spirit and the togetherness of the club is fantastic."

Neville revealed that the whole new deal was tied up very quickly indeed.

"Loyalty is a big thing in my life and this is the only club that I want to play for. It's a great club and I want to finish my career here," he said.

"At the end of last season I spoke to the manager and the chairman and it was quite easy. When you've got two parties who want the same deal and are happy with each other these things only take a couple of hours.

"I can't understand players who go into negotiations for six months because that tells me that one party involved isn't happy about things. But that wasn't the case with us. It took one meeting and one telephone call and it was as easy as that."

The England international added that the ambition of the club and the fact that things are moving in the right direction were big factors in tying his future to Everton.

"I wouldn't have signed if the club wasn't moving forward," he said.

"We've just got to trust the manager and let him do his job. He's not going to let this club take a backward step after the last few seasons."

Since joining Everton from Manchester United in the summer of 2005, Neville has enjoyed two top five finishes and played in Europe. He admitted that things had gone better than he had maybe hoped when he first arrived.

"Yes, I think so," he said. "It was without doubt the biggest challenge I've ever had in my career. I had to prove to people that I could become a blue and love playing for Everton and I'd like to think I've done that."

See the interview in full only on evertonTV now - and don't forget to tune in on Friday evening for full, live coverage of Nottingham Forest v Everton.