Liverpool have confirmed the signing of the Belgium striker Divock Origi from Lille with the player being loaned back to the French club for the duration of the 2014-15 season.
The 19-year-old joins the Premier League club on a five-year contract for a fee believed to be £10m, having spent four years at Lille. “I am very, very happy and delighted a club as big as Liverpool showed interest in me. I’m very excited,” the striker told the club website.
“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.”
Origi played in all of Belgium’s five games at the World Cup in Brazil and scored the winning goal against Russia in the group stage.
The Liverpool manager, Brendan Rodgers, added: “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 on to 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.”