Liverpool Agree to Deal for Central Defender Kolo Toure

In an effort to solidify the defense heading into next season, Liverpool have decided to bring in Kolo Toure.

Rob Harris of the Associated Press reports that the deal will be made official on July 1:

Liverpool also confirmed the deal on its official Instagram account accompanied by this picture:

Toure is a veteran defender who started 10 league matches last season for Manchester City. He also appeared in five more as a substitute.

While he struggled to get onto the pitch for the English Premier League runner-up, the 32-year-old player should have more opportunities with Liverpool. At Anfield, the squad will be able to utilize his strong tackling ability to help improve the entire first unit.    

Last season, Liverpool finished seventh in the league with a total of 61 points. While this was a slight improvement over the eighth-place finish from the year before, there are still higher expectations for this historic club.

One of the biggest issues for the club was consistency. The group had the fifth-best goal differential in the EPL, but struggled to bring the same effort on a weekly basis.

Toure's veteran leadership should help improve in this area after years of strong play with Manchester City, Arsenal and the Ivory Coast national team. He can provide guidance to the young players in the system and help everyone around him improve.

On the other hand, there are certainly question marks surrounding the older defender as he has clearly lost a step over the years. Still, he should be stronger if he is able to play on a regular basis and remain in a rhythm on the pitch.

This move will give Liverpool plenty of depth on the back line as they attempt to once again compete with the top clubs in England.