At last, it's done! Christ Tiehi is now a Rotherham United player

Christ Tiehi shows off his new Rotherham United colours

ROTHERHAM United today finally brought the Christ Tiehi saga to an end by announcing his arrival at AESSEAL New York Stadium and are now hoping he will be able to make his debut this weekend.

The midfielder has joined on a three-year deal from Czech Republic side Slovan Liberec and the Millers are believed to have paid a club-record fee to acquire his services.

His work permit has been granted by the Home Office after more than a month of negotiations and a place in the squad for Saturday's Championship trip to Sunderland awaits him as long as one last piece of red tape is in place.

"It's been a strange six weeks," said manager Matt Taylor. "It's been one of the worst-kept secrets in football history, the fact he's been training with us. He's also been present at some of our games and then trained on the pitch after those games.

"We've not been able to hide it very well. At a club like Rotherham everything gets out no matter what.

"I'm delighted it's over the line. Fingers crossed international clearance goes through in time for the weekend. He's a player we targeted right at the beginning of the recruitment process."

The transfer has been held up by the need for a work permit as the 25-year-old, who was on loan at Wigan Athletic in the second half of last season, doesn't hold a UK passport. The Millers paid out money to have the process fast-tracked.

"By doing that you can push yourself to the top of the queue," Taylor said." As a club, we've done everything we possibly can to get it sorted as quickly and as smoothly as possible.

"There have been outside parties. It has been complicated in many ways. We've had to do an awful lot of documentation, as has Christ himself.

"We understood the situation. As much as it was frustrating for everyone - for Christ more than anyone else - we have worked through it.

"The only thing he is missing is game-time. He's trained consistently and is injury-free. The minutes he gets in the next few matches will be dependent on how he is feeling."

The previous highest figure the Millers have paid for a player is the £400,000-plus it cost to take striker Freddie Ladapo from Plymouth Argyle four years ago.