The arrival of Slovakian centre back Martin Skrtel has been completed and confirmed by Liverpool FC. The 6′4″ defender arrives from Zenit St. Petersburg for a reported ₤6.5m on a four and half year deal.

The 23 year old has been given the number 37 shirt at Anfield but is unlikely to feature at Middlesbrough tomorrow, despite having trained with the lads this week.

Skrtel will provide competition at the heart of the Reds defence for Carragher, Agger and Hyypia and Rafa Benitez has already likened him in his no-nonsense style to Carra. He told lfc.tv “He is very competitive, but his mentality for me is very good. Watching him in some games his mentality is similar to Carra so I think it’s very positive for the team.”

“He is aggressive, quick, is good in the air and I think he’s a very good player for the future and also for the present.

“He has quality and he can be a problem for them and a good problem for me if I need to decide who to play in the future,” added Benitez. He has experience and enough quality for playing as soon as possible.”

Skrtel is now Liverpool’s most expensive defender.