Kolo Touré scored his first Liverpool goal against football club turned empty vessel Aston Villa yesterday but the Ivorian looks likely to leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the season and Liverpool have now found his replacement.
The club have now confirmed that Schalke defender Joel Matip has finally put pen to paper on a pre-contract agreement that has been in the works for quite some time. The 24 year old is out of contract at the end of the season and the Anfield club have put the rumours to bed by confirmed that Matip will be Klopp's first signing of what is expected to be an extensive rebuild job in the summer.
#LFC can confirm they have reached an agreement to sign Joel Matip this summer: https://t.co/IxCxXST2Wt pic.twitter.com/mcv7wIynty
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 15, 2016
Matip will become the second Cameroon international to play with Liverpool, the first being the inimitable Rigobert Song.
Chris Bascombe of The Telegraph reveals that Liverpool tried to sign Matip in the January transfer window, only for the German side to refuse to sell their defender, a decision for which Steven Caulker is grateful. Matip will become Klopp's third signing, along with Caulker and Marko Grujic.
Whilst he will be a direct replacement for Touré, Matip's arrival will have Liverpool's other centre-halves looking over the shoulders. This may be even more unsettling for Sakho, Lovren and Skrtel than what they are currently used to seeing over their shoulders: the wide-eyed terror of Simon Mignolet.
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