Monday, September 2, 2013

Liverpool sign Ilori from Sporting


• Defenders join for combined fee of around £20m

• Chelsea's Victor Moses expected to sign one-year loan deal

Follow all the transfers with our live deadline day blog


Liverpool have bolstered their defensive options by confirming the signings of the Portuguese defender Tiago Ilori from Sporting Lisbon for a reported fee of £7m and Mamadou Sakho from PSG for around £13m .


The pair watched Sunday's 1-0 Premier League win over Manchester United from the directors' box at Anfield, before penning their deals after undergoing medicals at the club's Melwood training ground.


The 20-year-old Ilori told the club's official website: "It feels great being a Liverpool player – coming to the Premier League has always been a dream for me.


"I'm going to try to achieve everything I can. I want to play as much as possible and we'll see what the future holds. I will give my all and try my best to help the team."


The 6ft 3in London-born centre-back has represented Portugal at Under-18, Under-19 and Under-20 level, and has played at Anfield for Sporting in the 2011-12 NextGen Series.


"I know the history of the club and the Premier League is the best league in the world, in my opinion," he added.


"Liverpool have a great team and I think it's the place for me to be at the moment. I know there have been some great teams here in the past and the club has won a lot of trophies and I want to be a part of it."


The 23-year-old Sakho said: "I'm delighted to be here. I'd like to thank everyone for the welcome. I came here because the project that is in place at Liverpool interests me. I'm really looking forward to playing my first game."


Sakho is capable of playing in central defence or at left-back and has made 14 appearances for his country since an international debut against England in November 2010. During more than six years at PSG, he collected three major trophies – the Ligue 1 title, the Coupe de France and the Coupe de la Ligue – and was named the country's young player of the year at the end of 2010-11.


The transfers will add to the feeling of optimism at Liverpool, who have started the Premier League season with three straight wins.


Victor Moses was alongside Sakho and Ilori at Sunday's game and is expected to confirm a one-year loan deal from Chelsea.





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