'Delighted' Dalglish Signs New Liverpool Deal

After several weeks of negotiations, Liverpool have today announced that manager Kenny Dalglish and assistant Steve Clarke have signed three-year contracts with the club.

Scotsman Dalglish said he was “delighted” to have accepted a permanent offer. The 60-year-old former striker returned to the club in a caretaker capacity in January, taking over from the sacked Roy Hodgson.

“I'm obviously delighted to be given the opportunity,” Dalglish announced to the club’s website.

“I said when I took the job on in January that I was just happy to help the club out for the remainder of the season. Now the owners want me to stay a little longer and it is fantastic news for both myself and Steve Clarke that we have signed these contracts.

“This is a unique football club and I'm delighted to have the opportunity to help build something special here again.”

Dalglish, who enjoyed his best years as a player during his time at the club during the 70s and 80s, became player-manager at Anfield in 1985, where success came instantly, winning the league and FA Cup in his first season in charge.

After managerial spells at Blackburn, Newcastle and Celtic, Dalglish returned to Merseyside as Liverpool club ambassador in 2009.

As Liverpool’s performances deteriorated towards the end of 2010, rumours that Dalglish would be considered as a possible replacement for Hodgson began. With the club 12th in the league – just four points above the relegation zone – Hodgson was sacked by the Clubs board and Dalglish was announced as caretaker role until the end of the season.

The Merseyside club now find themselves in fifth place in the Premier League, and are among the favourites to qualify for the Europa League for the second season in a row.

The £50m sale of popular striker Fernando Torres was immediately invested in new signings Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll.

However, Dalglish has also been keen to promote youth prospects into first team action, with John Flanagan, Jack Robinson, Martin Kelly and Jay Spearing all receiving starts in recent weeks.

John Henry, whose US-based Fenway Sports Group bought the club in October last year, said Dalglish was the man they wanted for the job.

“Kenny is a legendary Liverpool figure, both as a supremely gifted footballer and successful manager,” Henry said in an official statement.

“It was obvious to us very early on that the atmosphere surrounding the club had been transformed by his presence. No-one else could have produced such a response.

I’m delighted we have agreed to a new contract. We didn’t need nor want to look elsewhere for the right man to manage the team.”