Martin Skrtel’s Liverpool Career: The Hard Man with a Soft Centre

Long-serving Liverpool centre-back Martin Skrtel looks set to leave the club this summer, ending an eight-year association with the Reds and signalling a positive step forward for manager Jurgen Klopp as he plots for long-term success.

According to the defender’s agent, he is “90 percent” certain to leave Merseyside ahead of 2016/17, with Karol Cstono speaking to Slovakian broadcaster TV Markiza (h/t ESPN FC) towards the end of May.

“Besiktas is one of those interested in Martin but we’re haven’t reached a point where I can confirm Martin is going there, or anywhere else,” he said. “But I can say that it is 90 percent sure Martin will leave Liverpool, but it is far from closed.”

While, as Cstono admits, Skrtel is yet to agree a move away from the club, it seems highly likely that the Slovakia captain will leave this summer—and according to the Press Association (h/t This is Anfield), the Reds could receive £6 million in exchange.

This would be an ideal solution for Liverpool manager Klopp, who is poised to overhaul his defensive ranks this summer, as—despite his reputation as a bullish, no-nonsense centre-back—Skrtel has been a weak link within the Reds’ back line for a considerable period. 

With Daniel Agger recovering from a serious foot injury at the beginning of 2008 and Sami Hyypia sidelined with an ankle problem, former Reds manager Rafa Benitez moved to make Skrtel his “top target” for the January transfer window, as Tony Barrett revealed writing for the Liverpool Echo in the build-up to the centre-back’s move.

A £6.5 million deal agreed between Liverpool and Skrtel’s former club Zenit Saint Petersburg saw the Reds break their transfer record for a defender, then 23, and according to further testimony from Barrett, there was much cause for optimism from supporters.

“Standing 6’4″ tall, Skrtel has a reputation as a no-nonsense defender who does not shy away from the physical side of the game,” Barrett wrote, and having missed out on his initial priority, Manchester United’s Gabriel Heinze, Benitez echoed this sentiment, speaking to the club’s official website (h/t BBC Sport):

He is aggressive, quick and good in the air. I think he’s a very good player for the future and also for the present.

I think he is a player maybe not many people know about but he played against Everton for Zenit St. Petersburg, and he is a centre-half that knows the English style.

He is very competitive, but his mentality for me is very good.

Arriving in an injury-hit defence, Skrtel made his Reds debut 10 days after signing, replacing Alvaro Arbeloa with 21 minutes to play in a 2-2 draw with Martin O’Neill’s Aston Villa, and he soon established himself as a mainstay within Benitez’s defence, making 20 appearances in 2007/08, including 19 starts.

Liverpool finished fourth in the Premier League in Skrtel’s first …

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com