Liverpool have confirmed the signing of Slovakian defender Martin Skrtel from Zenit St Petersburg.
The centre-half, who has 15 caps for his country, has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract.
Skrtel becomes the most expensive defender in Liverpool’s history with the fee reported to be in teh region of £6m.
“He is aggressive, quick and good in the air,” said Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez.
“I think he’s a very good player for the future and also for the present,” Benitez added on the Liverpool website.
“I think he is a player maybe not many people know about but he played against Everton for Zenit St Petersburg, and he is a centre-half that knows the English style.
“He is very competitive, but his mentality for me is very good.
“He has quality and he can be a problem for them and a good problem for me if I need to decide who to play in the future,” added Benitez.
“He has experience and enough quality for playing as soon as possible.”
