Liverpool confirm capture of former Arsenal keeper Alex Manninger

Manninger last played a match in English football in May 2001 when Arsenal lost 3-2 to Southampton at the last ever game played at The Dell.

So the former Austria international was as shocked as anyone to get the call from Liverpool, who were looking for another keeper after Adam Bogdan joined Wigan on loan.

"Honestly, it was a surprise," he told the club's official website after signing a short-term deal, which is subject to international clearance. "After these years, in Italy and the last four years in Germany, I hadn’t given up, I hadn’t said ‘that’s it’, I still waited for the phone call.

"When Liverpool was on the phone, it was a great pleasure for me to take it on because it gives me what I was looking for. This is the moment I was waiting for until the end."

Manninger was playing for FC Augsburg last season and has had spells with Fiorentina, Juventus and Udinese - amongst many other clubs.

"I’ve still got something left, for sure, but obviously it’s probably not the time for me to push for the next three or four years to get a place in the goal," he added. "Because time says it’s not possible to play 50 games a year. But if I’m called up, I’m definitely there for games, I will play. And I’ll definitely be in the changing room every game, giving my input; I hope, even if it’s only a couple of per cent, it will do the rest."

The Austrian was one of the very early Arsene Wenger signings, joining in the Frenchman's first summer in charge, 1997, in a £500,000 loan deal from Graz AK.

When David Seaman sustained an injury towards the end of the season, Manninger stepped in and immediately impressed, keeping six clean sheets in a row in the Premier League to earn a player of the month award for March 1998 - making him one of only seven keepers to be so honoured.

He won the double in his first season at Arsenal but became number three in 2001 after the signing of Richard Wright and left for Fiorentina on loan, before joining Espanyol on a permanent deal at the end of that season.