Liverpool have completed the signing of veteran goalkeeper Alex Manninger, the club have confirmed.
Manninger has signed a short-term deal at Anfield after sources had told ESPN FC earlier this month that he was taking part in the Reds' preseason training at Melwood, and the 39-year-old is with the squad in the United States on their preseason tour.
The Austrian is expected to be a back-up option behind summer signing Loris Karius and Simon Mignolet. Liverpool have sent goalkeepers Danny Ward and Ryan Fulton out on season-long loans to Huddersfield Town and Chesterfield respectively and have no option of a recall.
Manager Jurgen Klopp feels Manninger's experience and character will be a good influence for the squad, given his lengthy career.
#LFC can confirm Alex Manninger has signed a short-term contract with the club: https://t.co/DZIUA6ouEW pic.twitter.com/KH7z7CUUsz
- Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 22, 2016
The goalkeeper told the club's official website: "Honestly, it was a surprise. After these years, in Italy and the last four years in Germany, I hadn't given up, I hadn't said 'that's it', I still waited for the phone call.
"When Liverpool was on the phone, it was a great pleasure for me to take it on because it gives me what I was looking for. This is the moment I was waiting for until the end.
"I've still got something left, for sure, but obviously it's probably not the time for me to push for the next three or four years to get a place in the goal. Because time says it's not possible to play 50 games a year.
"But if I'm called up, I'm definitely there for games, I will play. And I'll definitely be in the changing room every game, giving my input; I hope, even if it's only a couple of per cent, it will do the rest."
Manninger is familiar to the Premier League having made 64 appearances for Arsenal between 1997-2002, and he helped the Gunners secure the Double in 1998 after excelling when stepping in for the injured David Seaman.
He then spent several years moving between clubs in Italy and Spain before joining Serie A giants Juventus in 2008, where he made just three league starts in four seasons as No. 2 to club legend Gianluigi Buffon.
Manninger, who will wear the No. 13 shirt at Liverpool, was without a club after leaving Bundesliga side Augsburg at the end of last season.