Newcastle United have officially completed the signing of 29-year old-midfielder Nicky Butt for an undisclosed fee, reported to be in the region of £2.5m.
The Manchester Utd man requested a transfer in January, but ended up staying at Old Trafford until the end of the season.
Butt has ended his 13-year association with the club he joined as a schoolboy. He was an integral member of the 1992 youth cup winning side, that also included the likes of David Beckham, Paul Scholes and the Neville brothers.
Butt has signed a 4-year contract, and will wear the number 4 shirt for the magpies next year.
Newcastle had been interested in signing Butt for several months, but stepped up their interest following the sale of Gary Speed to Bolton.
Butt, a winner of 6 Premiership titles, 2 FA Cups, and 1 Champions League trophy, will provide plenty of experience as Newcastle look to break back into the top 4 next season. He joins other summer signings Patrick Kluivert and James Milner.
Despite starring for England in the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea, Butt subsequently lost his place in the United first team due to a combination of injury and the emergence of Phil Neville in the central midfield holding role.
This summer, Butt fell even further down the pecking order when Ferguson brought Liam Miller in from Celtic.
