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First Words & Images as Nuri Sahin Joins Liverpool FC

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Image for First Words & Images as Nuri Sahin Joins Liverpool FC

FURTHER to the news we brought you on Friday morning, Nuri Sahin has officiallly joined Liverpool Football Club. The Turkish international, who has played 31 times for his country and is the youngest player to have ever scored for Turkey, joins the Merseyside club on a season-long loan and will undergo a medical at Melwood on Saturday.

Sahin’s signature marks the end of a long-winded saga as the Reds jockeyed with Arsenal to capture the 23 year old midfielder from Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid. Sahin, who joined the ranks at the Bernabeu last summer, was voted Player of the Year in the Bundesliga for 2010/11 as he captained Dortmund to the league title, scoring seven goals and assisting with eight more.

Unfortunately for Sahin, his first season in Spain was hampered by persistent injury problems and he only made four starts in La Liga for Los Merengues, prompting Jose Mourinho to allow his investment to go out on loan in search of first team football. As mentioned above, the Reds faced competition from Arsenal to land Sahin and, at one point, it looked as if the London club had beaten Liverpool to the punch. However, negotiations between Arsenal and Real Madrid hit a snag and it is believed that Liverpool’s offer to pay 70% of Sahin’s £115k p/w wages won the day.

Speaking firstly to Liverpoolfc.com, Sahin amazingly revealed that he was actually present inside the Ataturk Stadium during that famous night in Istanbul back in 2005, courtesy of the Turkish FA for winning the European Under-17 Championships that year:
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“We were sitting near to where the Liverpool fans were and it was just a crazy, crazy night. It was then I saw what football and Liverpool Football Club means to the people,” stated Sahin who also confirmed that Xabi Alonso had also urged him to sign for the Reds:

“When he [Xabi] heard Liverpool were interested in me, he started telling me about Liverpool. He is still in love with Liverpool Football Club, I think! It’s crazy how he was telling me about Liverpool. He was saying, ‘Go there, you will love it. The fans will take care of you and love you’ and things like that. He said Anfield is the best stadium in the world. Xabi won a lot of trophies here, and hopefully we can do that too.

“I am happy to be here and I hope it will be a nice year with trophies. A club like Liverpool has to be playing in the Champions League, so we will go for the top four. We also have the FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League and I hope at the end of the season we are holding something in our hands.”

Sahin will join the Brendan Rodgers Anfield evolution for a reported loan-fee of £2m, but it is believed that the deal does not include a buyout clause. However, should the loan go well Liverpool will obviously be in pole position to secure a permanent deal. Sahin becomes the Northern Irishman’s fourth new signing of the window so far, joining the ranks at Anfield alongside Fabio Borini, Joe Allen and Oussama Assaidi.

Click below to enjoy more images of Sahin’s first day at Melwood.

You can catch up with Neil on Twitter @Neil1980 and on his blog http://itsallinthegameblog.wordpress.com/

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