Liverpool have finally completed the signing of English defender Nathaniel Clyne today for a fee believed to be in the £12 million region.
Clyne becomes the sixth signing for Brendan Rodgers’ side this summer as they rebuild their squad after last season’s disappointments. Clyne’s signing follows on the heels of the signings of Roberto Firmino, Danny Ings, James Milner, Joe Gomez and Adam Bogdan.
The 24-year-old, who scored for Southampton at Anfield last season in a 2-1 defeat for his former club, told liverpoolfc.com that he is delighted and that it is a “ dream move to play for such a big club”. He added “as soon as Liverpool showed their interest in me, I was happy and just wanted the deal to go through”.
Defensively Liverpool were a nightmare last season and with Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal all linked to sign the highly rated right back, everyone involved at the club will be thrilled to have a reliable defender who can be a goalscoring threat in their starting eleven; something they hugely lacked last season.
Like last summer, Rodgers has turned to Southampton to build his squad but will be hoping that the new signing will have more of an impact than ex-Saints Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren and Rickie Lambert- who all received criticism consistently throughout the 2014-15 season as Liverpool finished in 7th place.
The signing has already received plaudits, including two-time European cup winner and ex-Anfield favourite Alan Kennedy along with Harry Redknapp who believes it will be a great move as Liverpool look to fight for a Top Four place and a spot in the UEFA Champions League next season.