With Jurgen Klopp at the helm of the club, Liverpool will surely make a number of changes to its squad this summer and two such signings have already been done by the manager who is eager to start the new season.
Jurgen Klopp after signing Marko Grujic in the January transfer window has now completed his second signing as Liverpool manager after it was officially announced that out of contract Schalke defender Joel Matip has agreed to join Liverpool after the end of the season on a free transfer.
Here are 10 things you probably did not know about Liverpool’s new signing:
1. Matip is 6ft 4in tall, significantly taller than any player in the present Liverpool squad.
2. In his Bundesliga debut, Matip scored the only goal for his side in the 1-1 draw against Bayern Munich back in 2008.
3. Though born in Germany, Matip now represents the Cameroon national team, the nation of his father’s birth.
4. Matip’s older brother, Marvin, later also played for the Indomitable Lions, while the pair’s cousin Joseph-Desire Job picked up 52 Cameroon caps between 1998 and 2011.
5. He will only be the second Cameroon international to dawn a Liverpool shirt after Rigobert Song.
6. In his 244 appearances for the Bundesliga outfit, Matip averages a goal every 10 games.
7. The defender helped Schalke win the DFB Pokal Cup in 2011 and the DFB Super Cup the next season, ironically beating Dortmund on penalties.
8. Matip has three goals and three assists this season for Schalke even as he plays only as a central defender.
9. Matip is Klopp’s third player bought into the club after Red Star Belgrade player Marko Grujic and QPR player Steven Caulker who was brought to Anfield on a loan.
10. Matip has never been shown a red card in his league career. The only red card in his entire career was in the 2012 Europa League competition, a decision that was later overturned.
Will Matip help ease Liverpool’s defensive problems?