Ayre: Brendan Spotted Him Long Ago

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre has hailed the signing of striker Iago Aspas as a significant reward for the transfer work being carried out behind the scenes at the club.

The Spaniard became the latest player added to the Reds squad by boss Brendan Rodgers after completing a switch from La Liga side Celta Vigo.

Ayre revealed that Aspas had been picked out by Rodgers 'a long time ago' and pledged that efforts will continue to further strengthen the playing options this summer.

He told Liverpoolfc.com: "It's fantastic, the third signing of the summer and very early in the window.

"He's a great talent, one that Brendan identified a long time ago.

"The scouting network and everybody else have done a lot of hard work to get him here and I'm pleased that we've been able to get his signature and have him in the squad.

"As we've always said, we've got our targets. We will work as hard as we can to bring them in. As we've said before, it's always about getting the right players and the right deals for both sides.

"There's a lot of work going on, there's certainly no shortage of that. Hopefully we'll have some more success."

Aspas is the third player to agree a move to Liverpool already since the 2012-13 season concluded, following the announcement of a deal in principle with defender Kolo Toure and the signing this weekend of Luis Alberto.

"It's always important," Ayre said when questioned on the benefits of concluding transfers early. "It's not always possible but it's always important.

"Particularly from the playing perspective, the manager and the coaches and all of the staff want to know that they've got the squad together, particularly ahead of pre-season.

"We've worked tirelessly, a lot of people behind the scenes worked ahead of the transfer window to identify those players that interest us.

"Then the hard work starts, negotiating and bringing these deals together."