Brendan Rodgers believes his summer signings have sorted Liverpool’s defence for the next ten years, reports the Daily Mirror.
The Liverpool boss splashed over £20million on new centre backs Tiago Ilori and Mamadou Sakho on deadline day, adding to the free transfer of Kolo Toure earlier in the summer.
With vice captain Daniel Agger, and Slovakian international Martin Skrtel already at his disposal, Rodgers believes adding the new signings will be enough to secure the Reds defence for the next decade.
With Ilori just 20 and Sakho just 23, the Ulsterman hopes the pair will prove to be able replacements for the recently retired Jamie Carragher in the future.
“I wanted to try and protect the present and the future of the club,” Rodgers said.
“Centre-halves are so hard to find. You look at some teams and they have ageing centre-halves because it’s a struggle to get a really good one. We were fortunate in that two became available.
“One that we had been tracking for a year was Tiago Ilori, a young talent, but who can become a big talent.
“He is 6ft 3ins tall, super quick, powerful and can jump. He just needs to adapt to the pace and physicality of the Premier League. He is one for the future, but he can be a really big talent.
“Sakho is also young, but he is an experienced player. He has senior international caps for France and looks an absolute monster in training. He’s one who is ready for now and that’s what we want.
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“We had a chance to do that and protect the club for maybe the next 10 years and that is what we’ve done.”
The Reds have yet to concede a Premier League goal this season, and go into tonight’s match with Swansea knowing a point will send them back to the top of the table.
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