Clarke - Coates Is Ready

Liverpool coach Steve Clarke believes new signing Sebastian Coates is ready to be thrown into the first team.

The 20-year-old Uruguayan completed his move from Nacional on Tuesday to provide extra competition at centre-half in an undisclosed deal.

Fresh from being crowned Young Player of the Tournament at the Copa America, in which Uruguay were triumphant, Coates arrives with undoubted potential.

Clarke, though, is wary of the demands of the Premier League, which has so often got the better of youngsters making their bow in the English game.

"He's a full international and Uruguay is amongst the top five in the world, so they're a strong international team," Clarke told the club's official website.

"He's a talented youngster and gives us different options at the back. He's ready to play if required, but we've also got many other centre-halves ready to play if required.

"You never really know how a foreign player coming into the English game is going to adapt. Some take a long time to adjust, while others like Luis Suarez come in and settle straight away.

"You just keep an eye on it and hope the boy settles quickly, gets to know his team-mates, gets a few chances to play and then you build on it from there.

"It'll be a different challenge for him because the English Premier League is a league that takes a little bit of getting used to, so hopefully we can nurse him along, get him ready and he'll be a valuable addition to the squad.

"We look to sign young players that can improve and we looked at his performances throughout the Copa America when he was named Young Player of the Tournament. It's certainly exciting."

Coates is one of seven summer signings made by Liverpool, and Clarke reckons things are starting to take shape.

"All over the team you can see little partnerships and combinations starting to form," he said.

"We're basically a young team who are still getting to know each other and still working on strengths and weaknesses.

"Hopefully over a period of time we'll improve and the team performances will improve too."