Liverpool's 11 Greatest Foreign Stars

This summer's addition of Kolo Toure adds yet another nationality to Liverpool's growing band of brothers.

The former Arsenal and Manchester City defender will become the first player from the Ivory Coast to represent the Reds when he completes his free transfer move at the beginning of next month, but there have been plenty of other players from all four corners of the globe who have called Anfield home.

With Frenchman Gerard Houllier and Spaniard Rafael Benitez also having managed the club, the Merseysiders have certainly been a cosmopolitan bunch over the years, but who have been the best performers?

Creating an XI from Liverpool's best non-British players is certainly a tricky task, but here goes.

Goalkeeper: Bruce Grobbelaar, Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe's Bruce Grobbelaar only edges out the Reds' current custodian, the Spaniard Pepe Reina, due to his medal collection.

After being spotted when on a loan spell at Crewe Alexandra from Vancouver Whitecaps, the extrovert Grobbelaar came to Anfield in 1981 and went on to play 628 times for the Reds over 13 years.

Those dozen and one campaigns included six league titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups and most famously the 1984 European Cup in Rome, where Grobbelaar's famous "wobbly legs" antics put off the AS Roma players in a penalty shootout.

Jerzy Dudek later re-enacted the routine when Liverpool beat AC Milan to lift their next European Cup in 2005, ensuring that the Grobbelaar legend reached a new audience.

Right-Back: Markus Babbel, Germany

An astute free-transfer signing by Houllier in the summer of 2000, German international Markus Babbel went on to play a key role as a virtual ever-present member of Liverpool's back four during the Reds' treble cup-winning campaign.

Babbel even scored the opening goal in the remarkable 5-4 UEFA Cup Final win over the Spanish side Alaves in Dortmund, but following his stellar first season at the club, the right-back was struck down by the potentially life-threatening Guillain-Barre syndrome, meaning that he was frequently confined to a wheelchair and couldn't play for a year.

He eventually returned to the side but couldn't repeat his 2000/01 highs, when he earned a place in the hearts of Reds fans thanks to both his defensive and attacking prowess.

Centre-Back: Sami Hyypia, Finland

It is doubtful that Liverpool have ever spent a better £2.6m than the money they sent to Dutch club Willem II for the services of Finnish defender Sami Hyypia in the summer of 1999.

From being written off as an unknown, Hyypia immediately settled into the Liverpool side as if he'd been there for years, proving to be an integral part of the teams which won both the cup treble in 2001 and the Champions League in 2005.

Tall, strong, powerful and with a knack for scoring important goals―including strikes in Champions League quarter-finals against Juventus and Arsenal―Hyypia scored 35 times in 460 Reds appearances, preventing many, many more goals going against his club in that time.

Centre-Back: Stephane Henchoz, Switzerland

If there was a shot to be blocked or a tackle to be made, it was usually a safe bet that the red shirt making it would be occupied by Stephane Henchoz.

The Swiss centre-back arrived from Blackburn Rovers in the same summer as Hyypia, and he quickly formed an impressive partnership with the Finn that took Liverpool toward their three trophies in 2001―with Henchoz's handball famously denying Thierry Henry a goal in an FA Cup Final that would later go on to be dominated by Michael Owen.

A no-nonsense, safety-first-type of defender, Henchoz never scored a senior goal for Liverpool during his 202 appearances, but he didn't really need to.

He was a rugged, defender's defender, and one of the club's best.

Left-Back: John Arne Riise, Norway

Plucked from the verge of joining Fulham by Houllier in 2001, the left-sided John Arne Riise went on to prove a very successful £4 million signing for the Reds.

Equally at home at either left-back or left midfield, Riise scored on his debut in a UEFA Super Cup Final win over Bayern Munich before quickly finding favour with the fans thanks to goals against Everton and Manchester United―the latter a stunningly powerful strike from a free kick―early in his Reds career.

Those long-range thunderbolts became a trademark of Riise's 30-goal Liverpool career, and although he had his ups and downs at the club, he was a key member of the team which won the 2005 Champions League Final in Istanbul, where he played in front of Djimi Traore and set up the first goal of the comeback for Steven Gerrard.

He scored in the FA Cup Final penalty shootout win over West Ham in 2006 before moving on to Roma two years later.

Right Midfield: Dirk Kuyt, Netherlands

Initially signed as a forward from Feyenoord in the summer of 2006, Dirk Kuyt was eventually transformed into the kind of hard-working midfield player that all managers must dream of.

The Dutchman gave his all for the Reds over six seasons of loyal service, scoring 71 goals―many of them important ones―over 286 appearances.

Kuyt may have taken a while to win over some supporters, but by the time of his departure for Fenerbahce in the summer of 2012, he was a firm favourite on the Anfield terraces―a fact aided by a hat-trick in a 3-1 win over Manchester United as well as crucial strikes in Merseyside derbies.

He was a player you'd want on your side.

Centre Midfield: Jan Molby, Denmark

In an era when foreign players on English soil still weren't overly popular, Danish midfielder Jan Molby quickly became a Liverpool favourite following his move from Ajax in 1984.

Player-manager Kenny Dalglish made Molby a key member of his team in the 1985/86 season, with the Dane's passing and goalscoring capabilities a key aspect of a season in which he scored 21 goals from midfield.

Molby won three league titles, three FA Cups and a League Cup during 12 years at Anfield, during which he played 281 games and scored 58 goals whilst displaying some of the best midfield mastery that Anfield has ever witnessed.

Centre Midfield: Xabi Alonso, Spain

Ultimately the key addition in Benitez's first summer at Liverpool, midfielder Xabi Alonso proved to be a bargain at £10.7 million from Real Sociedad.

Combining a quite staggering range of passing with an ability to get stuck in and make his presence felt in midfield, Alonso scored the equaliser in the 2005 Champions League Final comeback against AC Milan and did more than most to earn the Reds the trophy.

His five seasons at Liverpool also brought an FA Cup and two remarkable goals from the halfway line against Luton Town and Newcastle, and when he departed for Real Madrid for £30 million in 2009, plenty were sorry to see him go.

Left Midfield: Luis Garcia, Spain

Along with Alonso, Luis Garcia was a key Benitez acquisition in the summer of 2004.

Forever remembered for scoring "that goal" against Jose Mourinho's Chelsea in the 2005 Champions League semi-final at Anfield, Garcia also scored against both Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus on Liverpool's road to Istanbul.

Capable of playing in a variety of roles across midfield and the forward line, the classy operator had a happy knack of popping up with crucial goals for the Reds, for whom he scored 30 times in 118 appearances across three seasons.

Forward: Fernando Torres, Spain

Following his arrival at Anfield from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2007, Fernando Torres set about becoming a living nightmare for defenders in English football.

He scored a staggering 33 goals in his first season at Liverpool—an astonishing amount given that not one of them came from the penalty spot.

Torres' movement and ability to score all types of goals marked him out as the complete modern centre forward, and although injuries took hold in the following seasons, he was still one of the most deadly marksmen on the continent.

The removal of Benitez and Liverpool's gradual decline had affected him by January 2011 though, and he walked out on the Reds to complete a huge £50 million move to Chelsea having scored 81 goals in 142 Reds games. 

Forward: Luis Suarez, Uruguay

Just as Torres was departing Anfield, Liverpool were about to be hit by a hurricane called Luis Suarez.

The Uruguayan breezed into English football from Ajax in January 2011, and although the various controversies which have surrounded him have filled several newspapers since then, there surely can't be anyone who doubts his outright quality.

The season which just passed saw Suarez score 30 goals in 44 appearances, but those strikes weren't able to power the Reds any higher than seventh in the table, and according to the Mirror, there are now question marks over the forward's future at the club amidst interest from elsewhere.

Should he move on, he'll be leaving big shoes to fill.