CHERRIES chief executive Neill Blake has described Harry Arter’s decision to sign a new contract as “another huge statement of intent”.

Midfielder Arter today committed his long-term future to the club when he penned an improved three-and-a-half year deal.

News of Arter agreeing fresh terms comes just days after Cherries had tied Matt Ritchie – another of their prized assets – to a new contract.

Arter, who was this week crowned PFA fans’ player of the month for December in the Championship, has been one of Cherries’ star performers this season.

The 25-year-old, who cost Cherries the princely sum of £4,000 when he joined from Woking in 2010, has established himself as one of the best midfielders in the second flight.

Blake told the Daily Echo: “We are delighted to have agreed terms with Harry because he is another very important and well-liked member of the squad.

“He is also a major asset to this football club and one of the main parts of our remit is to ensure we keep our best players as we look to keep building for the future.

“Harry and Matt Ritchie are key players in what we are striving to achieve so to have tied them both to long contracts in the space of a week has been great business.

“The manager has made it perfectly clear that he wants to keep the squad together and improve it and this is another huge statement of intent by the club.

“Harry can be a big player for us as we look to progress and his decision to sign a new contract shows he has faith in the club’s ambition.”

Ever-present Arter has been pivotal in Cherries’ rise to the top of the Championship and scored in five league wins in succession during December.

Unearthed by boss Eddie Howe during his first spell at the club, Arter was plying his trade with Woking in Conference South just five years ago.

A tribunal instructed Cherries to shell out £4,000 on him – with Woking officials insisting he was worth £30,000 – and Arter penned a two-year deal at Dean Court.

The Londoner had dropped into non-league following his release by Charlton where he had made his debut as a 17-year-old.

Farmed out on loan to Carlisle by former boss Lee Bradbury in March 2011, Arter was a mainstay of Cherries’ League One promotion-winning team under Howe in 2012-13.

Arter, who qualifies for the Republic of Ireland through his grandparents, has already been capped at every level between under-15 and under-19 and has franked his international credentials with a series of eye-catching displays for Cherries this season.