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Liverpool sign Slovakian defender Skrtl

Society Materials 11 January 2008 21:45 (UTC +04:00)

( dpa )- Liverpool completed the signing of Slovakia defender Martin Skrtl Friday.

The 23-year-old arrives for 6.5 million pounds (12.7 million dollars) from Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg - a club record for a defender.

"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 who knows the English style," manager Rafa Benitez told the club's website.

"He is aggressive, quick, is good in the air and I think he's a very good player for the future and also for the present.

"He is very competitive, but his mentality for me is very good. Watching him in some games his mentality is similar to Carra (Jamie Carragher ), so I think it's very positive for the team.

"He has quality and (it will be) a good problem for me if I need to decide who to play in the future. He has experience and enough quality for playing as soon as possible."

With Sami Hyypia ageing and Daniel Agger still recovering from a foot injury, Liverpool were in need of cover in central defence .

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