The future of stalwart Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel looked uncertain after he deemed the Reds first attempt at getting him to extend his contract “unacceptable”, but following further talks between the two parties a compromise has been reached and the big Slovakian has re-upped his deal with the Merseyside club.
As per usual, particulars of the agreement have not been made public, but the three year deal will see the 30-year old, who arrived under former boss Rafa Benitez from Russian side Zenit St. Petersburg at the beginning of 2008, complete a decade at the club and rack up his 300th appearance in the famous red shirt during the coming campaign. This, without question, comes as a relief to many Kopites the world ’round.
With the likes of Dejan Lovren struggling for form since his move from Southampton last summer and Mamadou Sakho’s almost constant injuries throwing a spanner in the works, Skrtel has been an ever present, ever fit body in a defence that has begged for consistency over the past three years. Bagging himself 48-starts out of a possible 58-matches last term, the 30-year old has been one player that boss Brendan Rodgers has been able to rely on all the time — something the Northern Irishman desperately needs following a disastrous end to last season.
Put off by the lucrative contracts given to players of a similar age with recurring and often disruptive fitness problems, the Slovakian hard-man went public with his dissatisfaction at Liverpool’s first offer which was believed to have both performance and appearance related clauses. With Italian side Inter Milan and German Cup winners Wolfsburg reportedly interested in luring him away, the club thankfully found common ground with the veteran defender who put the finishing touches on his new deal at Melwood ahead of the team departing for their pre-season tour of Australia, Malaysia and Finland this coming weekend.
