Benitez: Agger will push established pair

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez believes defender Daniel Agger will be challenging Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia for a place in the starting line-up in the near future.

The Denmark centre-back is on the verge of completing a £5.8m (€8.4m) move from Brondby after the two clubs agreed a deal in principle, subject to the 21-year-old passing a medical – which is believed to have been held yesterday.

“I would not say he was a particularly aggressive style of player,” said Benitez.

“He is a very clever type of defender. His positional sense is very good, for example, and he reads the game well.

“Of course, there are areas he needs to improve but he is young and we will help him.

“He will be an option for the first team within a short space of time.

“First he will need to improve his physical condition but then he will put both Sami and Carra under pressure for their place. This is an area where we have had no competition until now.”

Agger will be unable to participate in the European champions’ defence of their title, having played in the UEFA Cup for Brondby, but his arrival would provide Benitez with opportunities to rest his established centre-back pairing.

“He cannot play in the Champions League, but when you sign a player who is only 21 years old he is for the future of the club, not for a competition in which we have a maximum of seven games left,” he told the Liverpool Echo.

“If we have to play seven more games in Europe without players who are cup-tied it will be a welcome problem.”

Denmark head coach Morten Olsen is one leading manager who believes the player can grow in the Barclays Premiership.

“Daniel is confident about what he can do at the moment,” Olsen told Sky Sports News.

“He still has something to learn and he has a good mentality. If he goes to Liverpool they will have a top-class player.

“(This is a good move) for Daniel Agger and for the Danish national team because the Premier League is a top-class league.”