David Moyes hailed the importance of Michael Carrick to Manchester United as the midfielder extended his contract at the club until 2015.

Carrick, 32, signed his new deal after months of negotiations to ensure he will stay at Old Trafford.

The deal, which includes an option to extend the contract by a further year, will see Carrick complete a decade of service at Old Trafford since his £18 million ($29.1m) arrival from Tottenham Hotspur in 2006.

England midfielder Carrick has won five Premier League titles, one League Cup and a Champions League crown in his time with United so far.

"We are pleased," Moyes said Friday at a news conference. "It has been ongoing for a few weeks or months but thankfully we got it done.

"I'm getting to know the players more as I go along and like any job it takes time to get to know them more and get used to them. I think everybody knew before I came to the club about the importance of Michael Carrick to the team.

"It was not anything that he showed me in the two or three months that changed any minds and it was just a matter of getting it signed and done.

"We have that done and now we can look at other deals. It is important to continue to improve your squad and also important to look after the ones who we think we need to look after we do that as well."

Earlier Carrick, currently sidelined with an Achilles injury, told United's Twitter feed: "It's great to extend my contract at this club. I'm really enjoying my football. I've won many trophies and look forward to more."

Premier League champions United travel to Cardiff on Sunday looking to extend their nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions and also continue to close the gap on table-toppers Arsenal, who they beat before the international break.

Moyes, who had the awkward task of replacing Alex Ferguson as United manager following his fellow Scot's retirement, has already seen the Red Devils lose three league games this term.

But he was optimistic the worst was behind them now.

"We have come off a great result and sometimes you want the games to keep coming thick and fast but I've always said the international games are in and you can't do anything about that," he explained.

"We are in a run of good form, feeling good at the moment and got a confidence about us and we want to try to keep that going.

"I think that everybody knew what it would be like with Sir Alex leaving. We knew it would be a change of manager and we knew there would be problems no matter what, whether it be winning games, new personnel, but overall the players have been great.

"They have shown me what they can do. I've said many times Manchester United have shown over the years they have been pretty slow-starters, my history at Everton I was a slow-starter and hopefully we are beginning to find our feet and a bit of rhythm."

Nemanja Vidic was brought off just before half-time during the win over Arsenal at Old Trafford after a nasty collision with United keeper David de Gea left the Serbian defender concussed.

Moyes revealed Vidic had returned to training but will not be taking any unnecessary risks.

"He has had a bad concussion," the manager said.

"Concussion can be an extremely serious injury, we have given him a week off and will give him time to recover and pick him up gently."