Newcastle complete Woodgate signing

Newcastle completed the nine-million-pound (15-million-dollar) signing of England defender Jonathan Woodgate, the biggest deal struck anywhere in Europe during the January transfer window.

The deal, which has left his former club Leeds in turmoil, was finalised after Woodgate passed a medical "with flying colours," hours before the closure of the month-long transfer window, the club said.

"He's a great young player and another one who we have signed for the future so we are delighted," Magpies chairman Freddy Shepherd said.

Woodgate himself said at a press conference: "I'm thrilled by the switch to Newcastle. I have been at Leeds since I was 13 but I have moved on now."

He rejected any idea Leeds got rid of him. "I was not pushed out from Leeds," Woodgate added. "I accepted the move. The chairman (Peter Ridsdale) has had some stick but he's an honourable man. He was very good for me during my court case."

Woodgate has signed a five-year deal and Newcastle manager Bobby Robson predicted he would become a key figure for a club which is thrilling going forward but somewhat fragile defensively.

Robson said: "He is the right age for us, 23, in common with a lot of our really young players. We are trying to build for a long, successful, happy future.

"He is an England centre-half and that helps. We have a lot of foreign players here but we need a good mix. It is an important day for him and the club."

Woodgate has struggled in recent weeks with a thigh injury but Robson is unconcerned about his current fitness.

"In two to three weeks time he will be fit. We are not buying him for the next few weeks, we are buying him for the next five years."

Woodgate has become a regular in the England squad after returning to the fold last autumn and is challenging Sol Campbell for a regular place alongside Rio Ferdinand.

His international career had been interrupted by his involvement in a long-running trial over his role in the savage beating of an Asian student in Leeds city centre.

Woodgate was convicted of affray in December 2001 and sentenced to 100 hours community service. One of his close friends received a six-year prison term for causing grevious bodily harm to the victim, Sarfraz Najeib.