Liverpool complete signing of German keeper Loris Karius

Liverpool have announced the signing of 22 year old German keeper Loris Karius from Mainz.

The player will wear the number 1 shirt at Anfield.

He completed a medical earlier this week and the club made the announcement this afternoon. He has signed a five year contract.

He will officially join the club on July 1st and the reds are believed to have paid a fee of around £4.7M (€6M) - the transfer fee indicated in the players buy-out clause.

Reds boss, Jurgen Klopp said,

“I am delighted we have signed Loris, he has had a fantastic season with Mainz and has developed into a very good goalkeeper since his return to Germany.

“I am really pleased that we were able to move so quickly to get him and that Loris has shown such a desire to come to Liverpool with a lot of other clubs interested in him.

“I know he will add to the quality we have in this position and I look forward to working with him and all our players when we return for pre-season.”

Loris himself spoke to the official website and indicated he had spoken to the manager in some detail about his future plans:

“It’s a very good feeling and it’s an honour to play for a club like this.

“They have a special history and the fans are amazing here, so I look forward to playing at Anfield.

“I know a lot about the club from watching them on TV. The history, everybody who plays football knows. There a lot of things in my head when I think of this club.

“I spoke to the manager and I had a good feeling afterwards because he told me what he wants to do with the club and with the players.

“It was a good talk with him and after that I was convinced this was the right decision.”

Karius developed his youth career at Stuttgart, before spending 2 years between 2009 and 2011 at Manchester City. However he made the return to Germany - signing for Mainz and has played 90 games in the past three seasons cementing his place as their number one keeper.

He will turn 23 just before he officially joins the reds but already has an impressive 123 senior appearances behind him.

Welcome to Anfield.