FOUR years after his second-coming at Adelaide United had stalled, Bruce Djite has resisted interest from rival clubs to sign a new two-year deal at Hindmarsh.

The Socceroos-capped striker helped the Reds win the inaugural FFA Cup and has scored eight goals in 15 games across all competitions this season.

The contract extension caps a remarkable rise to prominence for the 27-year-old who in 2011 struggled to have an impact under then coach Rini Coolen.

Djite yesterday said he had persevered through the tough times to now belong to a team which was capable of winning the A-League title.

“There’s always hurdles to jump,” Djite said. “It’s important to persevere and keep going because the rewards do end up coming, if you stay brave you stay strong and keep focused on the job at hand.

“The club’s very different to when I first came back, we’ve got very clear direction in exactly what we want to do and that’s credit to the coaching staff.

“They’ve set up structures and a game style and plan that really suits the boys we have here.

“Football is one of those games where unless you’re Messi or Ronaldo an individual can’t really impact a game too much, you really need to rely on your team-mates to help and support and all the players here are benefiting from that sort of atmosphere.”

On the same day United announced it would host Liverpool in July, the club also confirmed it had re-signed Djite until at least 2017.

His first stint at United was from 2006-2008 before he spent time playing in Turkey then returned in 2011.

“I’m very excited to stay here for a couple more seasons, I think the team and club is one that can challenge this season and certainly going forward,” Djite said.

“There was (other) interest ... but if I’m going to play in the A-League I can’t see myself playing for anyone else but Adelaide United.

“Adelaide is home to me now ... Adelaide did a lot to try to keep me here and I’m appreciative of that and I hope to repay them as much as I can with my performances on the field.”

Adelaide travels to take on Central Coast on Saturday.