IT was the transfer that prompted gnashing of teeth and wails of anger among the Everton supporters.

But as he prepares to plot against Mikel Arteta for the first time, David Moyes is adamant he has no regrets allowing the Spaniard to leave.

Arguably the biggest deal on deadline day in August saw Arsenal prise the popular Arteta away from Goodison for £10million.

The critics of Everton’s board deemed the sale as exposing the precarious financial position of the club, a transfer more concerned with balancing the books than benefiting the team.

And while admitting the sizeable fee eased the pressure on the club accounts, Moyes still believes it was an opportune moment for a parting of ways.

“It was the right time for Mikel Arteta and everyone knows we needed the money,” says the Goodison manager. “I got a call from the chairman at 3pm on deadline day, and at one minute past three Mikel was knocking at my door saying he wanted to go. It was a very difficult situation.

“We needed to get some cash back in at that time. Then the deal was off for four or five hours, until 8pm at night. Then it was back on.

“Do I regret it? No – it was right for Mikel and for the club. Would I want him in my team? Of course I would.

“We bought him for £2.5m and sold him for £10m aged 29. We’d rather have him but I don't think anyone could say it was bad business.”

Moyes believes Arteta found his first real ‘home’ as a player during his six-and-a-half-year spell at Goodison, but admits both the serious knee injury that kept the Spaniard out for the best part of a year and Everton’s failure to build on the squad contributed to a disappointing last season with the club.

“His injury was a big down for the boy,” says the Scot. “It was a long road back for him.

“If ever he was going to get in the Spanish side, it was then – just before the injury. Everton were on the rise as well, playing European football and he was a big part of that as well.

“He’d be the first one to say that for the last little bit of his Everton career, he found it tough. That was probably because we hadn’t given him enough to support him and play around him.

“We only paid £2.5m for Mikel. It was a brilliant deal for us at the time. He became a big part of the core here – well-liked, supportive of the club and the team. I can only say good things about him.

“He’d started at Barcelona, been to Paris Saint-Germain, Sociedad, Rangers, back to Sociedad and then to us – so maybe we were his first real home where he bedded down.

“We appreciated his abilities as a player, his technical skills, his style. There was actually a period just before he got his injury that I thought he was as good as any player in the country.”

Everton’s loss has most certainly been Arsenal’s gain, Arteta rising manfully to the challenge of filling the sizeable shoes of the departed Cesc Fabregas in midfield.