Liverpool gets its Charlie

LIVERPOOL have reached an agreement with Blackpool to sign Charlie Adam.

The Scotland midfielder, 25, travelled to Merseyside today for a medical and to discuss personal terms.

The Reds have been tracking Adam for six months and today confirmed they had finally met the Seasiders' valuation for their skipper.

In January, they had two bids — the latter worth £6.5million — rejected by Blackpool, who were keen to hang on to their captain for a relegation battle which ultimately proved unsuccessful.

But Liverpool maintained their interest in Adam, who was aslo linked to Tottenham and Manchester United, and reopened negotiations at the end of the season.

But a fee for a player who had only 12 months left on his contract continued to be the sticking point with Ian Holloway's side reportedly holding out for £9m.

Adam is Kop chief Kenny Dalglish's second capture of the summer following Jordan Henderson's £16million switch from Sunderland.

The arrival of two new central midfielders is likely to mean changes to Dalglish's personnel.

It pushes the likes of Alberto Aquilani and Christian Poulsen further down the pecking order and their futures seem destined to be away from Anfield.

Aquilani has returned from a season-long loan spell at Juventus, who chose not to take up the option to buy the Italy international, while Poulsen became a peripheral figure when Dalglish took over in January.

There are a number of other players Liverpool would like to move on in order to free up space not only in the squad but on the wage bill with Joe Cole, Milan Jovanovic and David Ngog all likely to leave.

But having secured both his central midfield targets Dalglish must now turn his attention to filling gaps on the left-hand side.

Newcastle defender Jose Enrique remains an option, while Aston Villa's Stewart Downing has emerged as the primary contender for the left midfield slot, although the club are increasingly being linked with Valencia star Juan Mata.