Fulham have confirmed that they have signed Bryan Ruiz from FC Twente in a statement on their official website.
The club say they have signed the Costa Rican winger for an undisclosed fee, believed to be £10.6m, on a four-year contract. Fulham also say that they successfully fought off interest from another Premier League club, widely reported as being Newcastle United. The late transfer deadline day signing ends a long courtship of Ruiz by Fulham, who had their initial bid for the 26 year-old turned down by Twente.
Ruiz has been one of the top performers in the Eredivisie since signing for Twente from Ghent for €5m in 2009. He scored 39 goals in 61 appearances for the Dutch club, helping them to their first league title in 2009-2010, under the management of former England coach Steve McClaren. Ruiz, who scored the first goal in their 2-0 title-clinching win at NAC Breda, finished top of the Eredivisie goalscoring charts, with 24 goals.
Ruiz was delighted to conclude his move to Fulham:
I’m really happy to be joining Fulham Football Club and playing under Martin Jol who is a manager I admire from his time managing in Holland for Ajax. I chose to come to Fulham because it feels more personal than other clubs I have visited.
Fulham manager Martin Jol admitted that Ruiz, who has scored nine goals in his 43 caps for Costa Rica, admitted that Ruiz was his first choice target:
Bryan Ruiz was always our intended target. He is a player who continues to attract interest from other top clubs so naturally I’m very happy, on this final day of the transfer window, that he has decided to join Fulham.
Is Ruiz Europa Cup tied..?