New Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel has expressed his delight at moving to Merseyside - all he wants now is to make his debut.
Martin Skrtel became Liverpool's most expensive defender ever after completing his £6.5m move from Russian champions Zenit St. Petersburg last week.
And although he wasn't a Liverpool fan growing up, the Slovak is delighted to have been offered the chance to come to Anfield.
"To be the first Slovak to play for Liverpool makes me very happy," the defender told Liverpool's official website.
"Not many Slovakian players have had the opportunity to play in the English league. I have and I will give it everything to succeed here."
The defender also revealed that Liverpool's history was a major factor in him choosing them as his next move. "I know about the great history of Liverpool FC and the tradition.
"Watching the Champions League final when Liverpool played AC Milan in Istanbul left a big impression on me. That type of game doesn't happen every day.
"I watched it on the television and I thought at half-time, 'that's it'. What happened in the second half was absolutely unbelievable," he recalled.
Skrtel is also more than pleased to have his style of play likened to Jamie Carragher's. "I knew about Jamie before I came here," he said. "He is a very good player and it's a compliment for me to be compared to him."
Liverpool have badly needed another centre-back, especially now Daniel Agger has suffered a recurrence of his foot injury, but coach Rafa BenÃtez hasn't opted to use Skrtel thus far. Nevertheless, the Slovak knows it's only a matter of time until he gets his chance to impress the Kop.
"I can't wait to play at Anfield," he said. "The stadium is beautiful and Liverpool have got the best supporters in England, if not the world. I can't wait to play there for the first time."
The former Zenit man is currently lacking match fitness as the Russian league finished almost two months ago, but Skrtel explained he'd been working hard at the Reds' training ground to regain peak form.
"The manager has told me he will give me time to improve my fitness and fit in and I know about how tough the competition for places is here," said Skrtel, who has been given the No37 shirt. "That is a good thing for a club to have and I will give it my very best. I will be working as hard as I can so I can get into the squad and I will also try to learn to speak English as soon as possible."
But while he feels moving to Liverpool and England was the right decision to progress, he admitted that it had been tough to tear himself away from St. Petersburg and a team he'd just helped to the Russian Premier League title. "I was at Zenit for three and a half years and I really enjoyed my time at the club," he said. "Leaving was quite sad for me because I had some good friends there but that is the life of a footballer and now I'm looking forward to a new challenge at Liverpool. I will always have good memories of my time at Zenit."
Martin Skrtel became Liverpool's most expensive defender ever after completing his £6.5m move from Russian champions Zenit St. Petersburg last week.
And although he wasn't a Liverpool fan growing up, the Slovak is delighted to have been offered the chance to come to Anfield.
"To be the first Slovak to play for Liverpool makes me very happy," the defender told Liverpool's official website.
"Not many Slovakian players have had the opportunity to play in the English league. I have and I will give it everything to succeed here."
The defender also revealed that Liverpool's history was a major factor in him choosing them as his next move. "I know about the great history of Liverpool FC and the tradition.
"Watching the Champions League final when Liverpool played AC Milan in Istanbul left a big impression on me. That type of game doesn't happen every day.
"I watched it on the television and I thought at half-time, 'that's it'. What happened in the second half was absolutely unbelievable," he recalled.
Skrtel is also more than pleased to have his style of play likened to Jamie Carragher's. "I knew about Jamie before I came here," he said. "He is a very good player and it's a compliment for me to be compared to him."
Liverpool have badly needed another centre-back, especially now Daniel Agger has suffered a recurrence of his foot injury, but coach Rafa BenÃtez hasn't opted to use Skrtel thus far. Nevertheless, the Slovak knows it's only a matter of time until he gets his chance to impress the Kop.
"I can't wait to play at Anfield," he said. "The stadium is beautiful and Liverpool have got the best supporters in England, if not the world. I can't wait to play there for the first time."
The former Zenit man is currently lacking match fitness as the Russian league finished almost two months ago, but Skrtel explained he'd been working hard at the Reds' training ground to regain peak form.
"The manager has told me he will give me time to improve my fitness and fit in and I know about how tough the competition for places is here," said Skrtel, who has been given the No37 shirt. "That is a good thing for a club to have and I will give it my very best. I will be working as hard as I can so I can get into the squad and I will also try to learn to speak English as soon as possible."
But while he feels moving to Liverpool and England was the right decision to progress, he admitted that it had been tough to tear himself away from St. Petersburg and a team he'd just helped to the Russian Premier League title. "I was at Zenit for three and a half years and I really enjoyed my time at the club," he said. "Leaving was quite sad for me because I had some good friends there but that is the life of a footballer and now I'm looking forward to a new challenge at Liverpool. I will always have good memories of my time at Zenit."
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