MAURO Vilhete wants Southend United to be the final club of his career.

The 30-year-old midfielder has been with Blues since September.

And, with consortium set to remove the transfer embargo after exchanging contracts with chairman Ron Martin, Vilhete does not want to head out of Roots Hall any time soon.

“I didn’t know the news until you said but I’m over the moon,” said Vilhete.

“Hopefully now I can speak with the gaffer and stay here until the end of my career.

“We’ll see what happens but it’s good news.”

Vilhete made 11 appearances off the bench for Blues before making his first start in Saturday’s 2-1 win at Kidderminster Harriers.

And the midfielder was pleased to help Kevin Maher’s side record all three points.

“We dug deep and ended up winning the game which I felt we deserved,” said Vilhete.

“They came out and played their way but we dealt with it.

“We didn’t play as much football as normal but I enjoyed it and it was nice.”

However, the Shrimpers have now set their sights on the Boxing Day clash with Barnet at Roots Hall.

And the match see Vilhete facing his former side.

“I always look forward to playing against them,” said Vilhete.

“It’s basically home for me as I live that way and it will be nice to see some familiar faces but hopefully we’ll get the win.

“They won 6-0 at the weekend but it’s another game of football and if we do what we do we can win.”

Vilhete made 217 appearances for Barnet during his 12 years at the club.

And he experienced a number of varying emotions in that time.

"There were ups and downs," said Vilhete.

"We won the league which was the best experience but we got relegated which was the worst.

"It was the first club I played for and they gave me my start in football so I’ll always have a fond spot for them."