PLAYER PROFILE

Daniel Agger

Position: Defence

Height: 6'3

Weight: 12st 8lbs

Date of Birth: 1984-12-12 Hvidovre, Denmark

Daniel Agger

Danish defender Daniel Agger arrived at Liverpool in January 2006 with praise ringing in his ears from former coaches and mentors following a remarkable eighteen months as a professional footballer. "If he goes to Liverpool I can only say they will have a top-class player," said Danish national coach Morten Olsen, not a man given to throwing praise around. Liverpool's orginal Danish action man, Jan Molby, added: "At 21 he is still a relatively young player but I think he has all the attributes required to be a success."

A centre-back who can also play on the left-side of defence, Agger's rise to prominence in Denmark was as swift as it was impressive. Joining the first team squad in 2004, he became an integral member of the 2005 Championship winning side, winning rave reviews in the process. International recognition followed and Agger's impressive performance for Denmark as they inflicted a shock defeat on England alerted the Eurofoot cognoscenti to Agger's potential. Liverpool hammered out a deal with Brondby, despite late competition from Spurs, and Agger got a move to Anfield.

He played four times for his new club in his first half-season and this rose to over forty in the 2006/07 campaign.

However, metatarsal trouble struck in 2007/08, and he missed much of the season. He returned to action in the summer of 2008, but found himself sidelined by the form of Martin Skrtel, leading to reports of disharmoney betwen Agger and Benitez. Rumours in January 2009 claimed that he was trying to force a move to Italy, but nothing transpired.