Martin Skrtel

A no-nonsense defender who signed for Liverpool in the January 2008 transfer window.

His early football was played in Slovakia with Trencin where he established himself as a senior player before moving on to Zenit St Petersburg in the summer of 2004. During his time in Russia, Martin won the Slovakia Player of the Year award in 2007 and broke into the national side.

At Anfield he has become a valuable member of the first-team squad, playing at centre back, where he presents a dominant figure, being quick, effective in the air and strong in the tackle.

A knee injury kept him out of the side for a long period during 2008-09 but once fully recovered Martin regained his place in the line-up. The 2009-10 season saw him playing as a first choice in the centre of defence, although he was sidelined by a foot injury from February.

He went on to enjoy a much better campaign in 2010-11 and in 2011-12 continued to feature regularly in the team. Martin was occasionally used at right back as well as centre back and had an outstanding season culminating in winning Liverpool’s Player of the Year award.

Martin represents Slovakia in international football and has won over 50 caps for his country.