Sara Agrez: Watching Gerrard shaped my family's love of Liverpool

Liverpool FC Women have strengthened the middle of their defence with Sara Agrež, the 25-year-old centre-back arriving from FC Cologne after seven years in the German top flight. She takes the No.23.

By her own account the decision was not straightforward. Agrež was a key player in Cologne and comfortable there — but a conversation with head coach Gareth Taylor and the scale of the club she was being asked to join settled it.

A house that was already red

The move landed well at home, because her family did not need converting. Agrež grew up watching Liverpool during the Steven Gerrard years, and describes her relatives as supporters long before she was a signing.

“I have watched Liverpool when Steven Gerrard was playing and it's just a club with amazing fans — I want to be a part of it.”

Walking into the redeveloped Melwood, the training ground where Gerrard and generations before him worked, gave her a sense of the scale of the step. She called the facilities the kind of thing you do not see every day.

The player

Agrež sees composure in build-up as her strongest suit, allied to genuine aerial ability, physical strength and a taste for the tackle — a modern centre-back profile with the old-fashioned parts intact.

On the No.23, there was no grand plan and no nod to Jamie Carragher or Robbie Fowler. She had simply never worn it and liked the look of it.

Testing herself in the WSL

The Barclays WSL keeps drawing established European talent, and Agrež was open about wanting out of her comfort zone after so long in one league. The stated aim is a better season than the last one, and to help push Liverpool back towards where they think they belong.

As for the supporters she has only seen on television so far: she says she is looking forward to meeting them, and will give everything to make them proud.