Marcus Bontempelli has finally put pen to paper on a new four-year deal with the Western Bulldogs.

The captain’s existing contract expires at the end of the season and intrigue surrounded negotiations for what is almost certain to be the last long-term agreement of his stellar AFL career.

Player and club were both adamant negotiations would ramp up during the year but fans have grown increasingly anxious in recent weeks.

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The new contract will run through to the end of the 2029 season, when Bontempelli could be within touching distance of Brad Johnson’s club-record 364 games.

“I’ve had a few different things happening — getting married in the off-season, opening a small coffee shop out in Kew — but ultimately it is no different to how I’ve dealt with other things in the past,” Bontempelli said in a club statement.

“It’s an important decision to spend the right amount of time on.”

Bontempelli turns 30 in November and recently notched up his 250th game.

He was honoured as the Bulldogs’ second greatest player at a centenary gala on Monday night, behind only Ted Whitten.

A 2016 premiership player, Bontempelli has won six best and fairest awards — including three since taking over as skipper in 2020.

The No.4 was also named captain of the All Australian team last year.

“This club means so much to me, it’s hard to put it into a few words to be honest. It is where I have grown as a man and spent all of my adult years coming here at 18,” Bontempelli said.

“When I think about the person I want to become it has been influenced by the people I have spent a lot of time with at the Western Bulldogs.

“I owe so much from a footballing experience perspective but I think I really owe a lot of my maturing as a person and as a man to the football club.

“For me, it’s such a special place, the fans, the people that have supported me along the way. I’ve never not felt supported by our people here at the club.

“I feel incredibly lucky to have had that for so long.”