Liverpool have confirmed they have agreed a deal “in principle” for Brondby’s central defender Daniel Agger.

Agger is believed to be on Merseyside for a medical prior to joining the European champions.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez said: “Daniel is a player we have been following for a long time.

“We first spoke to Brondby about the player when we were in Monaco playing the Super Cup final. At that time, their chairman said he wasn’t for sale.

“We scouted Daniel for a long time but then he picked up an injury. When he returned to fitness we watched his first game back and we knew he was at the kind of level we require, even though he played only 25 minutes.

“We’ve been told he’s one of the best centre-halves in Denmark for 20 years. A lot of scouts have spoken highly of him and there has been lots of interest from other clubs.

“I wouldn’t say he was a particularly aggressive style of player,” said Benitez.

“I think he is a very clever type of defender. His positional sense is very good, for example, and he reads the game well. Of course, there are areas he needs to improve, but he is young and we will help him.

“He will be an option for the first team within a short space of time.”

And Denmark coach Morten Olsen is happy Agger is moving to the Premiership.

He said: “He is confident about what he can do at the moment – he still has something to learn and he has a good mentality and if he goes to Liverpool I can only say they will have a top-class player.

“He certainly has to play 25 games because only in that way will he become a better player, and he is only 21 so he is not a player for the bench.

“Of course he has got to accept he maybe cannot play in the first team in every game but I am sure he will show that he is a top-class player.

“(This is a good move) for Daniel Agger and for the Danish national team because the Premier League is a top-class league,” Olsen told Sky Sports News.