Liverpool have made their first major signing of the summer by completing the deal for Portsmouth right back Glen Johnson.

The 24 year old England international has signed a four year contract in a deal reportedly worth £17.5m.

Manager Rafa Benitez told the Reds’ official website:

“We were thinking about bringing in players with quality – that’s the first thing. He is also English and that is important for the Champions League list. We were thinking about improving the team and Johnson is a very good player who will do that.”

Rafa, as ever, also touched on the player’s mentality, a quality the manager clearly rates highly “One of the main things is his mentality – it’s really good. He is a winner. I was impressed with the conversations I had with him. He wants to improve.”

Benitez fought off competition from Man City and Chelsea to secure the signature of Johnson, he said “We had to be quick and the club acted quickly. It was down to the player whether he chose us or City or Chelsea and he chose us. It was very clear from talking to him that he wanted to play for Liverpool.”

Johnson’s squad number is yet to be decided, quite possibly due to the fact the current number 2 is Andrea Dossena whose future is in the balance.