Everton Pay Club Record £15m for Fellaini of Liège

Everton ended their summer-long search for a central midfielder in dramatic fashion last night when they secured a club record deal for Marouane Fellaini of Standard Liège. The 20-year-old agreed a five-year contract with the Goodison Park club only an hour before the transfer deadline, easing the manager David Moyes' growing frustration at his lack of big-money recruits.

Fellaini, a Belgium international, will cost about £15m after a day of extensive negotiations that resulted in Everton eclipsing their previous record outlay of £11.25m on Yakubu Ayegbeni. Moyes has been desperate to sign a powerful, young and industrious midfielder since releasing Lee Carsley at the end of last season and, along with several Premier League managers, was alerted by Fellaini's impressive performances against Liverpool in the Champions League qualifying round.

The Belgian champions have been drawn to face Everton in the first round of the Uefa Cup but having been thwarted in his attempts to lure Joao Moutinho from Sporting Lisbon and Stéphane M'Bia of Rennes, Moyes will now have Fellaini on his side when he attempts to reach the group stages of the competition.

The record purchase will also ease some of the growing pressure on the Everton hierarchy after an arduous summer in the transfer market.

Everton also completed the signing of Louis Saha from Manchester United after the French forward passed an extensive medical conducted over the weekend and was declared fit to complete the move despite being unavailable to play at present with a calf strain. "He's had injury problems and if he had been playing every game we wouldn't be getting him for next to nothing," said Moyes. "There will be some money after he's played games, but there is no initial outlay."

However, Everton were dealt a setback in trying to sign the Nigerian winger Victor Obinna from Internazionale when the application for a work permit was rejected. Inter bought the 21-year-old Olympic silver medalist from Chievo last month but were willing to send him out on a season-long loan. Moyes, his chairman Bill Kenwright and the club secretary David Harrison all attended the hearing in London yesterday and although they made a strong case the appeal was rejected because the player fell short of the required criteria of international experience.

Moyes also brought Wigan's third-choice goalkeeper Carlo Nash to Everton as experienced cover for Tim Howard on an initial two-year contract for a nominal fee and inquired about the Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant, who rejected the chance to move to Stoke City for £5m.

Hull have signed Daniel Cousin from Rangers for an undisclosed fee, understood to be about £1.5m. The 31-year-old scored in Sunday's 4-2 win at Celtic, and was later sent off, but he has been deemed surplus to requirements at Ibrox for some time. Fulham tried to buy the Gabon international in January but fell foul of the Fifa regulation which prevents a player representing more than two clubs in a season.

"It was fantastic to finish my time at Rangers by scoring in the Old Firm game," Cousin said. "I don't think I'll ever forget that experience. It has always been my ambition to play in the [English] Premier League. It almost happened to me when Fulham came but now it's finally a reality. I wish Rangers all the best and believe they can recapture the title. I'd like the fans to know I always gave my best for them."