David Moyes has praised the Everton Chairman and board after the capture of Marouane Fellaini on a new five year deal, which the Blues boss said was "good business".
Moyes, speaking ahead of the Toffees weekend clash with Wolves, revealed that the capture of Fellaini was something he had expected to happen a lot quicker.
But he said he was glad the saga had finally came to a positive conclusion after months of negotiation.
He said: "It's good news and it's something with I've known was going to happen.
"I expected it to happen two months ago, but then it's dragged and dragged. But well done to the chairman and the board for getting it done."
Fellaini has gone from strength to strength in a Blue shirt since signing for Everton for a club record fee of £15m at the age of just 20.
With "big clubs" monitoring the Belgian's situation, fears that Fellaini could go the way of Mikel Arteta, who signed for Arsenal just months after signing a big money deal with the Blues, had begun to surface on Merseyside.
But Moyes hinted that any suitors still keen on his star midfielder would now have to pay big money to buy him out of his current deal.
Moyes said: "We've secured him and made sure that it'll take a lot of mopney for someone to buy him from us.
"From that point of view it was important that we kept him as a player and as an asset to the club, so it's really good business.
"He's still 23 years old just now. But he's got a lot going for him.
"He's a good player, someone who has grown in the Premier League and got better.
"He's got a lot of things which are required in the modern game like his size, and he's got silky feet as well, he's a nice footballer and we hope that he'll get better."
The announcement of the Belgian's new deal was welcome good news for Evertonians who have had little to smile about since losing Arteta in the summer and with the Blues currently sitting 17th in the table.
But Moyes said that Fellaini's new deal was unneeded proof that Everton are still ready to hang on to their top players and compete with the big sides.
He said: "We've always had the ability to hang on to big players at Everton, so I'm a bit surprised that is questioned.
"I can probably understand why, because of the way everyone perceives the club but I don't think that question would have been asked six months ago.
"So I'm saying, look, hey, we're still alive and kicking, we're still going to try and compete when we can.
"We're going to do everything we can to keep our best players and we'll make the right decisions on when we think it's time to sell people at the right price.
"So as a business we're still trying to do everyting correctly and I'd still like to think we're still one of the sides who can challenge the teams at the top."
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