MILLWALL boss Neil Harris said Shane Ferguson showed “real desire” to join the club on a permanent deal from Newcastle United.
Ferguson put pen to paper on an 18-month contract with the Lions this week after his loan spell came to an end following the 2-1 win over Chesterfield last Saturday.
Harris also praised the board for backing the signing of the Northern Ireland international and said it is a “fantastic bit of business” for the club.
Millwall had negotiated a two-week extension to his initial loan deal while they attempted to thrash out terms with the player and his representatives.
That was brought to a successful conclusion on Tuesday, and Harris was thrilled to finally tie the player to Millwall on a permanent basis.
“He’s a great addition to the squad,” Harris said. “He’s shown his quality and his ability in two positions for us over the course of a loan spell.
“He’s also shown a real desire to want to be with us as a football club and he’s a young lad that for his future development needs to be playing games regularly.
“He’s coming to us to get that opportunity. In our opinion he’s got a huge amount of development in him.
“In terms of games he’s a very young man. He’s got an ambition to play in the European Championships in the summer with a view to having a long and successful career.
“I believe it’s a fantastic bit of business. Our board have given us the opportunity to buy a player at a good age and we continue with a theme of putting together a developing squad that’s going to grow together.”