Sotiris Kyrgiakos: 10 things you need to know about the new Liverpool signing
With money tight Anfield, Rafa Benitez has been forced to scour the basement end of the transfer market to solve his defensive crisis.
The Spaniard looks to have come up with a solution to Liverpool's problems, though: step forward Sotiris Kyrgiakos.
Here's all you need to know about the Greek international centre-back:
1) He signed his first professional terms with Panathinaikos,for whom Kyrgiakos made a total of 60 appearances and scored five goals.
2) The defender is no stranger to British shores - he signed for Rangers (initially on-loan) back in 2005.
3) Kyrgiakos's finest hour in Scotland came during the 2005 Scottish League Cup final, when he scored twice in a 5-1 victory over Motherwell.
4) His spell in Scotland was not without controversy, though. Kyrgiakos was sent off three times in the space of 13 games for Rangers. Watch out Rafa - he's a fiery one!
5) He almost ended up on the Blue half of Merseyside after opening discussions with Everton over a move at the end of his Rangers loan spell. However, Kyrgiakos ended up signing a permanent deal at Ibrox instead.
6) He scored the winner for Rangers in a famous 3-2 win over Porto during the group stages of the 2005-06 UEFA Champions League competition.
7) Having made his international debut against Sweden on February 13, 2002, Kyrgiakos scored his first goal for Greece exactly a year later in a game against Norway.
8) Sadly, he missed out on Greece's finest hour when a knee injury sustained in a clash with Rangers team-mate at the time Stefan Klos ruled him out of the national side's Euro 2004 triumph.
9) He made up for lost time, though, bagging three goals during Greece's successful qualifying campain for Euro 2008.
10) He's certainly impetuous. Kyrgakos announced that he'd agreed to join Liverpool on his official website today (Wednesday, August 19) - despite his club AEK Athens issuing a statement claiming otherwise.
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