Kieran Foran admits the opportunity to play under Parramatta coach Brad Arthur was the deciding factor in his decision to quit Manly.
Foran told his Sea Eagles teammates on Monday morning he was following halfback Daly Cherry-Evans out of the exit door at the end of the season.
The Kiwi Test star has agreed to a four-year contract believed to be worth in the region of $4.7m.
But the 24-year-old said linking up again with former Manly assistant Arthur was the biggest reason for swapping Sydney's northern beaches for the western suburbs.
"There's no hiding from the fact that played a part," Foran told the Nine Network.
"He's someone I really respect and have a whole lot of time for. But more importantly enjoyed playing under and working with in that 2013 season.
"I guess when he rang me and asked me about the opportunity of going there I took it as a good one."
Foran denied his decision was an insult to Sea Eagles coach Geoff Toovey and said it was difficult breaking the news to him.
"I have the utmost respect for 'Tooves'," he said.
"It was hard, I could see the disappointment and hurt in his face. He is someone I have a lot of time for."
The five-eighth also admitted feeling under huge pressure to stay after Cherry-Evans announced he was on his way to the Gold Coast knowing what a blow it would be for the club.
"I guess it did, I didn't want to see Manly lose both of us," he said.
"That is why I was wrestling with my decision up until this morning."
Parramatta chairman Steve Sharp hailed the signing of Foran as a great day for the club and a sign the Eels are on their way to returning as a major force in the NRL - less than two years after claiming a second successive wooden spoon.
Sharp, who threatened to resign two years ago unless Arthur was given the job over Jason Taylor, said the influence of the coach is transforming the club after more than a decade of mediocrity.
"It's a great day for our club when a player of Kieran's ability decides to join us," Sharp told AAP.
"He is already a fantastic player and under Brad Arthur's coaching he will become an even better player than he is now.
"Brad's created an environment here where the players want to play for him and I think this signing is evidence of that.
"The club is in a good place and it smells like a football club again."
News of Foran's exit was a bitter blow for the Sea Eagles, for so long the plunderers of other club's talent.
Manly CEO Joe Kelly, who joined from South Sydney where he'd served as chief financial officer, last October, had made keeping Foran and Cherry-Evans his biggest goal when he was appointed.
He now finds himself having to turn to a shortlist of potential replacements in addition to finding a major sponsor with Kaspersky set to cut ties at the end of the year.
But he vowed to splash the cash to keep the club successful.
"The club is now in a position of having the resources necessary to recruit some of the best talent in the marketplace, to ensure the Sea Eagles remain a dominant team in the NRL," Kelly said.
"We've an extremely bright future here at Manly.
"There is some prodigious young talent rising through our junior ranks."
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