Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta has agreed a new five-year deal, which the Premier League club said Saturday should end speculation that the Spaniard could leave. Throughout the offseason, the 28-year-old Arteta has been linked with moves to bigger clubs but has now said he wants to stay to help Everton improve on last season's eighth-place finish. 'What this summer has made me realize is how important I am to the club and how important the club is to me,' Arteta said Saturday. 'The chairman and the manager wanted me to stay 120 percent and that makes me feel proud. 'We are all seeing the club and the future in the same way and that is special -- something that you don't always find. I believe in this squad ... something is happening here and I want to be a part of it.' Arteta, who has never played for the senior Spanish national team, joined Everton in a permanent deal five years ago after an initial six-month loan from Real Sociedad. Chairman Bill Kenwright described Arteta as 'one of the finest players ever to wear an Everton shirt.' Arteta is the fifth Everton player to agree a new contract since the end of last season, with Tim Cahill, Seamus Coleman, Jack Rodwell and Leighton Baines also committing themselves to the Liverpool cub. 