Liverpool in £6.5m swoop for Zenit St Petersburg defender Martin Skrtel
Jan 7 2008
by Tony Barrett, Liverpool Echo
LIVERPOOL are set to break their transfer record for a defender by paying £6.5m for Slovak international centre back Martin Skrtel.
The Zenit St Petersburg star arrived on Merseyside last night ahead of a medical today and the club are confident the deal will be finalised within the next 48 hours.
Chief executive Rick Parry thrashed out a deal with Zenit officials during talks in Russia at the weekend.
Skrtel is rated as one of the most promising defenders in European football and Liverpool have had to beat off competition from some of the continent's top clubs to set up the deal.
Should the transfer go through as expected it will mark the end of Rafa Benitez's search for a new centre-half that began with the ultimately unsuccessful pursuit of Gabriel Heinze and which became increasingly urgent in recent weeks following injuries to both Daniel Agger and Sami Hyypia.
Skrtel is a 23-year-old full Slovak international with 15 caps to his name.
He joined Zenit in 2004 and has gone on to make more than 100 appearances in the Russian league.
Standing 6 ft 4 ins tall, Skrtel has a reputation as a no-nonsense defender who does not shy away from the physical side of the game.
With Agger – who was named Denmark's player of the year at the weekend – still not ready to make his return to first team action after suffering a metatarsal injury last September, Benitez has been short of cover at centre back for several months.
That situation worsened recently when Hyypia picked up an ankle injury at Derby County on Boxing Day, leaving Benitez with only Alvaro Arbeloa, a full-back, and teenager Jack Hobbs as his options to partner Jamie Carragher in the centre of defence.
Benitez will be keen to see the deal for Skrtel tied up as quickly as possible so he can be added to the Liverpool squad, possibly even in time for the trip to Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Rick Parry today dismissed suggestions he is flying to the USA for an urgent meeting with Tom Hicks and George Gillett regarding Benitez's future.
The appointment is a diary engagement to discuss new stadium plans and Parry insists no discussions about the manager's position are on the agenda.
He said: "It's been in the diary for a long time, to discuss the stadium."
