Fabian Delph has said that he owed it to Aston Villa to sign a contract extension with the club.

The England midfielder put speculation over cut-price January moves to Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur to one side and signed a new four-and-a-half-year extension on Sunday.

Delph's stock has risen significantly in recent seasons but the Villans looked poised to lose him on a free transfer, with his previous deal scheduled to expire this summer.

The 25-year-old initially struggled to live up to his billing since joining from Leeds United in 2009, and he says that his decision to extend his contract was inspired by the faith that Villa showed in him.

"It wouldn't have sat right with me, leaving at this point in my career on a free. I am here for the future and am here to stick it out," he told The Mirror. "I think most people in my situation would probably be looking to move on. I am quite driven and people expected me to move on to challenge for stuff.

"Being on a free also means I would have been financially better off. But I am a kid from Bradford, brought up on a council estate. I am not money driven or money-orientated. I live a simple life, I love my family and take care of them.

"It about repaying the faith of the chairman [Randy Lerner] and the fans. You can't do anything from the treatment table but once I got fit and got a run of games it was honestly all about repaying them."

He has made 12 Premier League appearances this season, having missed two months with a dislocated shoulder earlier in the campaign.