JURGEN KLOPP WAS impressed with the focus and general solidity Alisson showed on his Liverpool debut in Saturday’s 5-0 crushing of Napoli.
Liverpool made Alisson the most expensive goalkeeper of all time last month when they and Roma struck a deal which could eventually reach £65 million.
The arrival of a new goalkeeper had long looked a necessity for the Reds, given the woes of Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius over the last couple of years.
Alisson was unsurprisingly their primary target having been linked with him extensively for several months, and he pulled on a Liverpool shirt for the first time on Saturday in their penultimate pre-season friendly.
And the Brazil international made a strong impression on Klopp in Dublin as Napoli were brushed aside 5-0 in front of 51,512 spectators at the Aviva Stadium.
“He’s quite a good footballer – probably as good as the goalie he is,” Klopp said after the match.
“An all-round good performance for the first game, especially because I think everyone can imagine what happens inside a human being in a situation like that, playing the first game after all the things that were written about it and all that stuff.
“Playing against Napoli, it was the strongest side we played so far, 100 per cent. They had nearly a full squad here and it can look completely different.
“He was very, very aware of all situations when he was needed behind a high last line.
“We involved him a lot in our build-up, but we need to get used to that a little bit more still – that’s clear, [and] he needs to get used to it a little bit more, but there were a lot of good build-up situations, so that helps.
“But at the end he’s there to catch balls and he did that in all the decisive moments, so I’m really pleased.”
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