Wantaway midfielder Javier Mascherano is still a Liverpool player for the time being, but Roy Hodgson has already swooped for his replacement, landing Juventus midfielder Christian Poulsen for 4.5 million pounds.
Mascherano has openly stated his desire to leave Anfield, and a reunion with Rafa Benitez at Inter Milan or a move to Barcelona could be in the cards soon. So, Hodgson has moved to land the experienced Dane, who got his career kickstarted under Hodgson at FC Copenhagen in 2000.
He left Copenhagen for a move to Schalke 04 in the summer of 2002, then moved to Sevilla on a free transfer in the summer of 2006. After two seasons in Spain, Juventus spent almost 10 million euros to bring Poulsen to Italy in 2008. In two seasons with the Bianconeri, he made 33 Serie A starts and almost 50 league appearances total.
Liverpool will pay 2.2 million pounds up front and 2.3 million next July, and they could pay nearly a million more in performance-based add-ons.
Poulsen, who will wear the 28 shirt for Liverpool, joins midfielder Joe Cole, forward Milan Jovanovic, midfielder Jonjo Shelvey, and defender Danny Wilson as the new faces at Anfield. Another arrival appears to be imminent, as Liverpool have agreed a fee of around 2.5 million pounds with Middlesbrough for keeper Brad Jones, who will come in and provide cover for Pepe Reina.
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