Liverpool Football Club have today unveiled the signing of Divock Origi from Ligue 1's Lille. The 19-year-old has become the club's sixth summer signing, in a £10 million deal and will immediately be loaned back to the French club for the duration of the 2014-15 season.
The talented Belgian youngster was one of his country's best performers at the recent 2014 World Cup, helping fire his side to their first ever Quarter Final after contributing a late winner against Russia in the group stages. However, the club have been tracking him a lot longer than that. Scouts from Liverpool have been watching Origi since his performances in the Belgian U15 national team, and the club now finally have their man.
Origi began his career in the youth ranks of Belgian side Genk before securing a move to Lille in 2010. He marked his senior debut with a goal against Troyes in February 2013 and has since netted a further five times for Lille, helping them to a 3rd placed finish. After an impressive club campaign, Origi was named in Belgium's World Cup squad to replace the injured Christian Benteke and he had a fine tournament.
There was rumoured to be much interest in the tall forward following his performances on world football's biggest stage, but it was Liverpool who managed to secure a deal for the promising 19-year-old.
Upon joining the Reds, Origi said: "I am very, very happy and delighted a club as big as Liverpool showed interest in me. I'm very excited.
"I know it's a club with a great history, great fans and a lot of great players. For me, Liverpool is one of the greatest clubs in the world and I'm very excited to be part of this great history."
When asked about his qualities, he replied: "I would say my speed, pace, technique, in one against one [situations] and my scoring abilities. Those are my main strengths."
His new boss Brendan Rodgers echoed that, saying he is confident Liverpool have secured a player he feels can 'light up world football'. The Liverpool manager told the official website: "For me, he can be one of the most exciting talents in world football. I genuinely believe that."
"You see a lot of good players, but this kid - for 19 years of age - he burst onto the scene at the World Cup, but we'd tracked him before that, we'd seen him as a young player playing in the youth internationals. He has everything to be world class."
Origi joins goalkeeper Simon Mignolet in Liverpool's belgian contingent, and the shot stopper had this to sayd of his compatriot: "He did really well for Belgium. We didn't know that much about him but he showed something to the world. He's quick, he's got skill and he can score a goal so he's got all the qualities you need to become a top striker."