Kuyt agrees new deal

Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt has agreed a new deal with the club, one which will keep him at the club until 2012.

Kuyt’s existing deal ran until the end of next season, and boss Rafa Benítez is delighted to see the player given the two year extension: “This is another great piece of news for the club. Dirk had one year left on his contract and we were keen for him to stay. He is a player with great quality who has a big part to play in our future. We are delighted to have reached an agreement.”

Dirk has been at the club for three years, signing from Feyenoord for £9m after winning the Dutch Footballer of the Year award for 2005-2006.

He’s scored ten goals this season for the Reds, starting off with the one that saved Liverpool from a penalty shoot-out in the Champions League qualifier against Standard Liege. His role has changed during his time at the club; he now rarely plays as the striker he was bought as, instead playing a wider role usually on the right.

The news comes on the same day that the club announced captain Steven Gerrard had agreed a new deal, meaning he’ll be contracted to the club until 2013.

Rafa said he was pleased with the speed with which the two deals were done: “To have announced new deals for Steven and Dirk on the same day shows how hard everyone is working and that we are moving forward quickly as a club. These are very positive messages and I am very happy.”

Before the announcement about Kuyt had been made, Rafa had been speaking to reporters about Gerrard’s deal and also about the efforts that had been made this week to get deals in place for a number of Reds stars: “We have been working very hard this week with a lot of players and agents and the easiest one has been Gerrard. As soon as we said to him we want to talk about an extension it was agreed very quickly.

“I am very happy because I think it shows his commitment to the club. It is very good news for the club, the team and the fans. Everyone around Liverpool should be really pleased.”