Kuyt living his ‘dream’

Liverpool have agreed a reported £11 million fee with Feyenoord for striker Dirk Kuyt.

Kuyt is due to take his medical on Thursday after agreeing terms on a four-year contract.

“For me Liverpool is to be sure the dream club I was looking for,” said the Dutchman.

“There was more interest from abroad, but for me there was nothing of the calibre of Liverpool, a brilliant club with an enormous reputation and fantastic, empathic support and a fabulous history. It is an honour to play for a club like that.

“I leave Feyenoord with mixed feelings. I have experienced three great years in Rotterdam, despite us not winning any major prizes. The crowd continued to adopt a positive attitude in spite of that.

“Feyenoord supporters are the sort of fans any club would like to have in their stadium. I will always respect that, as I respect all the people at the club. That is why I consider it an honour that the chairman wanted to see me back at De Kuip.

“That is an expression of appreciation. I wish the players, coaches and all fans a great deal of success this season. From England I will continue to follow everything that happens at De Kuip.”

Feyenoord chairman Jorien van den Herik claims it was always Kuyt’s ambition to move to Anfield.

Van den Herik told his club’s website: “We did everything we could to keep Dirk at Feyenoord.

“We went a long way to doing that and Dirk was open to that, but we knew that the chance was he would leave if his dream club came in. Liverpool is his dream club.

“Many clubs have tried to contact Dirk over the recent period, but he’s said ‘no’ to clubs every time because they were not appealing enough despite there being many renowned clubs among them. That characterises Dirk’s attitude: either Feyenoord or my dream club.”

“All parties have kept their promises,” said Van den Herik. “And the response was always no up to now, but when Liverpool came knocking with a serious offer we knew that a transfer was an option.

“It is a pity for Feyenoord, but we do not begrudge him this step. We have to be thankful to Dirk for his effort and loyalty to Feyenoord and its supporters. He deserves respect and a big farewell from Feyenoord and we hope that he returns to De Kuip after his foreign career.”