Jurgen Klopp Confirms 2nd January Signing, Player May Debut Tonight Against Arsenal

Liverpool have confirmed the signing of QPR centre-back Steven Caulker. Jurgen Klopp has signed the 24-year-old on a season-long loan to provide much-needed reinforcements to the injury-ravaged squad. The Reds at the moment have only two fit centre-backs in the form of Mamadou Sakho and Kolo Toure, and Caulker will be an option to start against Arsenal tomorrow.

The 48-year-old German said: “We want to press the opponent, and so they have to play long balls. If they play long balls, you need people in the last line who can help you with headers and we’ve found it with Steven Caulker.”

Caulker was on loan at Southampton, but he managed to make only three league appearances for the Saints this season. Saints manager Ronald Koeman was happy to let him leave in search of first-team football

“Steven came in in the summer before we signed Virgil van Dijk because we had long-term injuries and he was a back-up,” said Saints boss Ronald Koeman.

“He didn’t play a lot, and normally we have more defenders for that position. I am not going to stop his opportunity to play for Liverpool.”