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.