Reds Confirm Four-Year Mascherano Deal

Liverpool FC and Javier Mascherano have confirmed that the Argentine midfielder has penned a four year deal with the Anfield giants, with his transfer fee said to be in the region of £18.6m...

Mascherano and his club put to bed no small amount of speculation by securing the contract late on Friday afternoon.

The 23-year-old told LiverpoolFC.tv, "This is the best moment in my career.

"I am very, very happy and now I can concentrate just on playing football.

"I said all along that I wanted to stay at Liverpool and now that I have signed I can say this is the best and the biggest moment in my career so far."

The Argentine World Cup ace continued, "From the first day I arrived at Liverpool the feeling was good and I knew this was where I wanted to play my football.

"It's good news for me and my family that everything is sorted and I know where my future is going to be. I just want to do my best for the fans and the people of the club.

"I am at a top side and I know I can win titles here. That's the big thing for me. I want to be at a club where we can win trophies and have success."

Manager Rafael Benitez chimed in, "We must be really pleased with the situation now. He has been a key player for us since he has been here and now we know he can be a key player in our future.

"From the start we knew Javier was a player with quality and a fantastic mentality. We knew the player when he was in the reserves at River Plate but was playing for the senior national team and we had been monitoring his career since then.

"He is young but he has great experience having played for his country. We knew he would be a good signing for us.

"It's clear that he is one of the best midfielders in the world but he can get better with us. We now have a lot of good options in the centre of midfield and that's good news for the club."

Mascherano arrived at Anfield in at the very end of the January 2007 transfer window, signing up from West Ham United and player agency Media Sports Investments (MSI).

It has taken no small amount of legal wrangling for the player to complete his official switch to Liverpool - which is said to be worth £18.6m - but the deal now seems signed and sealed by all concerned parties.

Prior to arriving in London, Mascherano played for Corinthians in Brazil and River Plate back in Argentina.

Hyypia Hopes For Anfield Stay

Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia says he is hoping to win a new deal at Anfield. A number of clubs are thought to be monitoring Hyypia’s situation with his current contract due to expire in the summer.

The 34-year-old admits clinching a new contract at Liverpool is his priority as he would like to make it ten years on Merseyside.

“My priority would be to stay at Liverpool, but it’s not only up to me,” told The Mirror.

“I haven’t got any offers yet from here or any other clubs, so I’m just trying to focus on the matches. I’m enjoying playing. I’ve played more games than I maybe thought I would this season because of all the injuries.”

“The only thing I can do is try to play well, and when it’s time to sit down see what happens. It would be very nice to get to 10 years at the club but I’m just concentrating on playing well.”

Hyypia says he is happy to fight for his place in the team with Jamie Carragher, Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel all battling for a spot in the heart of Liverpool’s defence.

“Whether I stay wouldn’t depend on how many games I play. I’m not like that. I’m not interested in someone promising me anything, If we have four centre-backs, then everyone fights for their place and performances should determine who plays. If I keep playing well then it’ll be very difficult for the manager to change things.”