LONDON — Liverpool’s new Spanish striker Iago Aspas marked his debut at the English Premiership football club with a goal in Saturday’s 4-0 friendly win over Preston at Deepdale.
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Aspas signed from Celta Vigo for £7,7 million during the close-season and he gave a glimpse of why Reds manager Brendan Rodgers was so keen to land him with a fine second-half strike against the League One side.
The 25-year-old curled home Liverpool’s final goal as they eased their way back into action in their opening warm-up, a fixture organised in honour of Reds’ legendary manager and former Lilywhites player Bill Shankly.
“Iago works hard, he’s got a trick in and around the box and he excites supporters,” Rodgers said.
“He’s a good guy and he works very hard for the supporters. “He drifts well in-between the lines and always wants to receive the ball, but what I like is that he wants to score goals. He’s looking to create and combine or go solo and get a shot in. His goal was a terrific strike.”
Philippe Coutinho, Jordon Ibe and Raheem Sterling were also on the scoresheet for Liverpool in scorching temperatures touching 30 degrees.
There were appearances for Liverpool’s new Belgian goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, signed from Sunderland, while Ivory Coast centre-back Kolo Toure also featured following his arrival from Manchester City.
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Aspas and Luis Alberto played the second half, with Aspas’ 20-yard left-foot curler for Liverpool’s fourth in the 75th minute the highlight. Luis Suarez was absent after being given extended leave following his Confederations Cup duty with Uruguay.
