Kolo Toure and Liverpool agree terms

Liverpool have agreed a deal in principle to sign Manchester City defender Kolo Toure.

The centre-back will be registered as a Reds player when his current contract at the Etihad Stadium expires in the coming weeks and he will officially join the club on 1 July.

Manager Brendan Rodgers has turned to the 32-year-old in order to add some experience to his back four following the retirement of veteran Jamie Carragher. The Reds boss is keen to get his business done as early as possible to avoid the sort of problems which arose last summer.

Then he loaned striker Andy Carroll to West Ham the day before the August deadline in the belief he would be signing Clint Dempsey. But the move collapsed after owners Fenway Sports Group baulked at Fulham’s asking price and the United States international moved to Tottenham instead.

With Toure approaching free-agent status, it was a relatively straightforward deal to complete and further additions in defence are expected.

Toure’s vast wealth of Premier League experience, having joined Arsenal in 2002 before moving to City, provides an ideal stop-gap while the Reds boss looks for younger alternatives.