Liverpool have announced the signing of left-back Kostas Tsimikas from Olympiacos in a deal worth £11.75 million.
The Premier League champions were thought to be keen on Norwich City's Jamal Lewis, but after failing to agree a fee, Jurgen Klopp's side have moved quickly to sign Greece international Tsimikas, who has made 46 appearances this season.
“I’m very happy, I’m very proud to be here. For me, [it’s] the biggest club in the world. It’s an honour to be here and I will give my best,” Tsimikas told Liverpoolfc.com after completing his transfer.
“The league here, I like a lot. I watch it on the TV and it was always one dream I had from when I was a kid to come to play in this league and to come through.
“With a lot of work and focus on what I do and what the coach wants, and every day working hard in training, I can be on the highest level.
“[I want] to achieve [our] goals. To win the league again and also to win the Champions League.”
Tsimikas' arrival at Anfield should signal the end of the Reds' search for a new understudy to Andy Robertson.
According to the Liverpool Echo, Liverpool had also considered a move for Bournemouth’s Lloyd Kelly - as well as Real Madrid left-back Sergio Reguilon, who has spent the season on loan at Sevilla.
Reguilon's impressive displays for Sevilla helped the club to finish fourth in La Liga, and reach the Europa League quarter-finals, where they will face Wolves.
The full-back has been heavily linked with a move to Chelsea, with reports claiming the Blues had entered into advanced negotiations for the defender.
Along with a potential new goalkeeper and attacking midfielder, football.london understands Blues head coach Frank Lampard has instructed the club hierarchy to sign a new left-back in the summer transfer window.
Leicester City's Ben Chilwell is thought to be the Blues' main target, along with Ajax’s Nicolas Tagliafico and Atalanta’s Robin Gosens, but the England international's asking price may force Chelsea to look elsewhere.
And with Liverpool now no longer in the market for a left-back, the Blues could now move into pole position to sign Reguilon.
Speaking after watching his side lose 4-1 to Bayern Munich in their last-16 second leg tie, 7-1 on aggregate, Lampard admitted that the club will turn their attentions to strengthening ahead of next season.
Asked if he was expecting more arrivals at Stamford Bridge to follow Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner, Lampard told BT Sport: "We'll look at that, because that's our job, we're very joined up on that already.
"From having a transfer ban (last summer) you feel we've missed where other clubs have spent and improved, and recruitment is a huge part of this game.
"Nights like this in a footballing sense, show me a lot, tell me a lot.
"So it's a conversation now, the season is ended, it's a very quick turnaround, so now is the time to see where we can improve, what areas we can improve on."
