Morientes confirmed to join Liverpool Real Madrid have confirmed they have agreed a £6.3m deal with Liverpool fortheir striker Fernando Morientes. Morientes, 28, is thought to have agreed a three-and-a-half-year contract and will have a medical on Thursday. The Spain international could then complete his move in time to make his Reds debut at home to Manchester United in Saturday's Premiership game. Liverpool will pay £5.5m initially but the fee will rise to the full asking price depending on certain clauses. Those clauses are believed to be linked to the striker making a certain number of appearances for Liverpool. "I believe we have an agreement and I want the deal completed as soon as possible," said manager Rafael Benitez, who has beaten off late competition from French club Lyon. "We have tabled an official bid to Real for Morientes," said Lyon's managing director Marino Faccioli on Tuesday. That bid was thought to be around £6m which forced Liverpool, who previously had a £3.5m offer rejected, to raise the stakes. Morientes is highly-prized in French football after his goals, while on loan from Madrid, steered Monaco to the final of the Champions League last season. England captain David Beckham, a team-mate of the striker at Madrid, had pleaded with the striker to stay. "I think Morientes is a star player and he is very important for the fans," Beckham said. "He was at Monaco last year and now he is back here. I think he should stay here, but that's not up to me or the players. He's a good person and an excellent player." Morientes was the top scorer for Monaco last season on their Champions League run, and was recalled to Real when new manager Jose Camacho took over in July 2004. Camacho quits Real But Camacho lasted only until September, when he was replaced by Mariano Garcia Remon, who in turn was ousted in favour of Wanderley Luxemburgo in December. Throughout the changes, however, Morientes has remained fourth-choice at the Bernabeu behind Ronaldo, Raul and Michael Owen, who left Liverpool for Spain in the summer. I like Liverpool and I am pleased that a club of their stature want to buy me. I have told Madrid that I want it to happen Morientes has to pass the formality of a medical and Benitez said: "We have spoken about him for two weeks now and the player wants to join Liverpool which is a good thing. "We are ready for his arrival as soon as a deal can be completed. "I'm not sure how player registration works in England but we are hopeful that he could be ready for the weekend. "We will use the player as soon as possible. The important thing is he wants to come to Liverpool and play for us." Morientes, who has previously outlined his admiration for Benitez, will become the fifth Spaniard to be signed for Liverpool by their compatriot manager, after Luis Garcia, Xabi Alonso, Josemi and Antonio Nunez. Argentine defender Mauricio Pellegrino has also joined from Benitez's old club Valencia. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/4127559.stm ----------------------- If he can match his talent with a decent work ethic then the combo of him and Baros up front is like a dream. just hope he doesn't flatter to decieve like Mr Kluivert.
Would be the perfect partner for Milan, who is looking shit hot at the minute. Totally changed the game last night, terrorizes defences. Will turn out to be world class IMO, just hope its at Liverpool (only has 18 month left on his contract)
Last night he changed the sense of urgency on the pitch. Tbf Mellor is a good finisher and works well off the shoulder of defenders but he lacks the pace Baros does which Watford struggled to cope with. Nice to see him back!
tbh tho they've gettin a far better forward than they sold ... just look at what both players have won and compare that alone. Never mind the fact that Morientes has played in different countries and now another if the deal goes thro at liverpool, and hes had some sort of success in everone. Good signing (imo) the toon should have been in the running.
this is good news for my fantasy league team, money in the bank to spend and a top striker arriving in the player pool will be strange seeing him in a pool shirt after all that fiasco over Spurs buying him a couple of years back. 'Mori spotted at heathrow' was the claim on the msg boards
Michael's contract was due for renewel and he made his intentions clear so they cashed in. Liverpool may have Madrid's former 4th choice striker but that doesn't mean he's poor. Just look at who he had ahead of him: Raul, Ronaldo and Owen. His partnership with Raul was the best in Spain for many years and he's a fantastic player. Now it's up to Benny to get the best out of him which I think he'll do but we'll have to see.
Loaned out last year, sold this year.Look at how well other x-madrid players are doing in England I hope he does well on Saturday tho
But he was excellent for Monaco and helped them reach the Champions League final and finish 3rd in the French league. True! However Geremi did have a good spell at Boro before wasting away at Chelsea; Nunez hasn't quite been able to overcome his pre-season injury but has potential; Hierro is solid at Bolton and Campo has done well for them (against the odds) and, er, Macca's at Man City doing, er, well.... You and me both mate
