STEVIE: JAVIER IS ONE OF WORLD'S BEST

Jimmy Rice 01 March 2007 Steven Gerrard believes Liverpool have signed one of the best young midfielders in the world in Javier Mascherano.

The skipper says his 22-year-old teammate has made quite an impression in training since arriving from West Ham in January. "He's a class player – one of the best young players in his position anywhere in the world, which makes what happened to him at West Ham surprising," Gerrard told LFC Magazine. "He's been training and you can see his quality. He gives the manager more options in midfield and I'm positive he'll become a great addition to the lads here already. I think he's got everything in his game to succeed here at Liverpool. "He's quick over the ground, plays passes with intelligence and gets stuck into a tackle when he has to. "I saw a fair bit of Argentina in the World Cup and he was one of the best players they had. People raved about them in the group stages and a lot of that was down to how Javier controlled the games."