Ayre: Luis was top of our list
Moments after Luis Alberto completed his transfer to Anfield - subject to international clearance - Liverpoolfc.com spoke to managing director Ian Ayre to get his reaction to the deal. Here's what he had to say...
Ian, we've just completed the signing of Luis Alberto, how happy are you that he is now a Liverpool player?
It's fantastic news. He's a player that Brendan identified very early on and the scouting team did a lot of work on watching him. After that the hard work started in terms of getting the deal together, both with his club and his agent. We're always pleased when that comes to fruition. He's a very exciting player and I know Brendan is very excited about it. So hopefully our fans can be too.
What will he bring to the club?
In the lead-up to the transfer window, Brendan made clear the positions he felt we needed to strengthen - and Luis was top of the list in terms of his ability and skills in the position he plays in. He brings all the attributes that the manager wanted for that position and we're very pleased we got the right deal at the right price for the player.
We've had a busy start to the transfer window so far - what does this say about the club and the fact that we are eager to secure our targets early on?
I think the praise goes to all those people in the background who do all the hard work on scouting and analysis - and also the manager himself. If we identify people early and we identify the positions early, then we can do the work early. And throughout this year we have done that; in the January window and in the summer. That will be our game for the future - to be more prepared and execute well. And I think today is a great example of that.
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