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Brendan Rodgers has likened Joe Allen to a Spanish footballer, and admitted he would have paid more than £15m for the Wales international, after Liverpool completed his transfer from Swansea City.
The 22-year-old signed a long-term contract at Anfield on Friday night that will treble his Swansea wages of £15,000 a week. He had travelled to Merseyside to see Liverpool beat Gomel in the Europa League on Thursday, setting up an all-British play-off with Hearts, after the Anfield club met the £15m release clause in his contract.
"You'd think he was a Spanish player, a real European player. I would have paid many more millions for this kid," said Rodgers, who managed Allen at Swansea. "He is a unique player in that he's a British player who doesn't give the ball away. When he comes into this team you'll see the difference he can make.
"He's incredible on the ball, his intelligence for a 22-year-old is frightening, his game understanding is very, very good and he's in love with the football. He loves the ball. I think he'll fit in really well with all the other clever players we already have here. I'm excited about the prospect of Allen fitting in with our front four, because I think even at this early stage, their combination has been excellent."
Despite the acquisition of Allen, Liverpool's second summer signing after £10m Fabio Borini, Rodgers admits he still has to construct a more competitive squad at Anfield. Craig Bellamy took the number of senior players to have left Liverpool since the end of last season to five on Friday when he completed a free transfer to Cardiff City.
And Rodgers, who would be keen to take Adam Johnson in any deal with Manchester City for Daniel Agger and is also interested in Clint Dempsey and Nuri Sahin, among others, said: "I don't know whether I expect more signings to follow rapidly but certainly our hunt continues, I said when I first came in my objective was to build a squad that was going to be competitive. It is probably a wee bit frustrating for everyone – including myself – that we haven't got them coming in quicker, but I think we've seen that the squad we've got here is already a good one, and I am just trying to improve it a little.
"Hopefully between now and the end of August we can get some more players in who can help the players we have here. That would be great. I don't really want to say how many I'd like to bring in, because if I say three for instance, then people might say you've not got three if it doesn't happen. It is always complex at a big club. What I have learnt here very quickly is the minute Liverpool are interested it adds about two noughts onto the price tag of a player, it's absolutely incredible."
Bellamy completed his move to Cardiff having been allowed to leave Liverpool on a free to be with his family in south Wales. The 34-year-old signed a two-year contract with Cardiff, where he scored 11 goals in 36 appearances while on loan in 2010-11. The chief executive, Alan Whiteley, said: "I am sure Liverpool will agree their loss is this club's gain and Craig's return will be met with huge excitement and enthusiasm by all Cardiff City fans."
Liverpool have been drawn to play Hearts in the play-off for the Europa League group stage. The matches will take place on 23 and 30 August with the first leg scheduled to be played at Tynecastle. The Anfield club have also targeted Dorus de Vries of Wolverhampton Wanderers as a back-up goalkeeper for José Reina but have been told to increase their valuation of the 31-year-old Dutchman.
The 22-year-old signed a long-term contract at Anfield on Friday night that will treble his Swansea wages of £15,000 a week. He had travelled to Merseyside to see Liverpool beat Gomel in the Europa League on Thursday, setting up an all-British play-off with Hearts, after the Anfield club met the £15m release clause in his contract.
"You'd think he was a Spanish player, a real European player. I would have paid many more millions for this kid," said Rodgers, who managed Allen at Swansea. "He is a unique player in that he's a British player who doesn't give the ball away. When he comes into this team you'll see the difference he can make.
"He's incredible on the ball, his intelligence for a 22-year-old is frightening, his game understanding is very, very good and he's in love with the football. He loves the ball. I think he'll fit in really well with all the other clever players we already have here. I'm excited about the prospect of Allen fitting in with our front four, because I think even at this early stage, their combination has been excellent."
Despite the acquisition of Allen, Liverpool's second summer signing after £10m Fabio Borini, Rodgers admits he still has to construct a more competitive squad at Anfield. Craig Bellamy took the number of senior players to have left Liverpool since the end of last season to five on Friday when he completed a free transfer to Cardiff City.
And Rodgers, who would be keen to take Adam Johnson in any deal with Manchester City for Daniel Agger and is also interested in Clint Dempsey and Nuri Sahin, among others, said: "I don't know whether I expect more signings to follow rapidly but certainly our hunt continues, I said when I first came in my objective was to build a squad that was going to be competitive. It is probably a wee bit frustrating for everyone – including myself – that we haven't got them coming in quicker, but I think we've seen that the squad we've got here is already a good one, and I am just trying to improve it a little.
"Hopefully between now and the end of August we can get some more players in who can help the players we have here. That would be great. I don't really want to say how many I'd like to bring in, because if I say three for instance, then people might say you've not got three if it doesn't happen. It is always complex at a big club. What I have learnt here very quickly is the minute Liverpool are interested it adds about two noughts onto the price tag of a player, it's absolutely incredible."
Bellamy completed his move to Cardiff having been allowed to leave Liverpool on a free to be with his family in south Wales. The 34-year-old signed a two-year contract with Cardiff, where he scored 11 goals in 36 appearances while on loan in 2010-11. The chief executive, Alan Whiteley, said: "I am sure Liverpool will agree their loss is this club's gain and Craig's return will be met with huge excitement and enthusiasm by all Cardiff City fans."
Liverpool have been drawn to play Hearts in the play-off for the Europa League group stage. The matches will take place on 23 and 30 August with the first leg scheduled to be played at Tynecastle. The Anfield club have also targeted Dorus de Vries of Wolverhampton Wanderers as a back-up goalkeeper for José Reina but have been told to increase their valuation of the 31-year-old Dutchman.
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