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Liverpool have finally confirmed the signing of 23 year old Argentine Javier Mascherano.
The player has been on loan with Liverpool since January 2007 with his loan deal due to expire in the summer of 2008. The player has now been purchased from MSI Investments for a combined total of around £18 million.
The midfielder has made an immediate impact at Anfield, widely hailed as the man of the match in last years Champions League final and a revelation in Liverpool’s recent victory against Inter Milan at Anfield.
Rick Parry had this to say about the reds second most expensive signing:
“Our over-riding thought is that we are delighted to have signed a world class player on a long contract and I know Javier is thrilled, too, because he was keen to have his long term future resolved.
“I think this signing demonstrates two things. Firstly, that life at the club goes on despite all the speculation to the contrary.
“And secondly, it demonstrates in very large measure the ongoing commitment of the owners who once again have come good when funds have been needed.”
The player himself feels a sense of relief now the deal has been concluded.
 “I am very happy and now I can concentrate just on playing football.
“Now that I have signed I can say this is the best and the biggest moment in my career so far. From the first day I arrived at Liverpool the feeling was good and I knew this was where I wanted to play my football.
“It’s good news for me and my family that everything is sorted.
“I am at a top side and I know I can win titles here. That’s the big thing for me. I want to be at a club where we can win trophies and have success.”
Rafa Benitez, who has been very keen to secure Javier, was also pleased with the deal:
“We must be really pleased with the situation now,” he said.
“He has been a key player for us since he has been here and now we know he can be a key player in our future.
“From the start we knew Javier was a player with quality and a fantastic mentality.
“We knew the player when he was in the reserves at River Plate but was playing for the senior national team and we had been monitoring his career since then.
“He is young, but he has great experience, having played for his country. We knew he would be a good signing for us.
“It’s clear that he is one of the best midfielders in the world but he can get better with us.
“We now have a lot of good options in the centre of midfield. That’s good news for the club.”
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posted on March 2nd, 2008 at [16:23]
On his day Javier looks like a Stevie ‘clone’ and against Milan A couple of times I thought he was Stevie!
A great buy surely? One for the long term…… JD
posted on March 5th, 2008 at [01:02]
Well about time our snail paced men in the know concluded this deal!.Had it been Man Utd or Arsenal they’d have wrapped it up ages ago where as we seem to love dragging on things.