Hyypiä leaving Liverpool for Leverkusen
Monday, May 4, 2009
Article summary
Sami Hyypiä will end a ten-year stay at Liverpool FC in the summer after agreeing to join Bayer 04 Leverkusen on a two-year contract. "I hope we can be successful together," said the 35-year-old Finland centre-back.
Article top media content
Article body
Sami Hyypiä will end a ten-year stay at Liverpool FC in the summer after agreeing to join Bayer 04 Leverkusen on a two-year contract.
Coach delighted
The Finnish international centre-back passed a medical in Germany this morning and will link up with his new team-mates ahead of the 2009/10 campaign. "The negotiations with Bayer 04 were very good," said Hyypiä, 35. "They gave me the feeling they really wanted to sign me. I'm looking forward to a new challenge at Leverkusen and I hope we can be successful together." Leverkusen coach Bruno Labbadia added: "Hyypiä is the man that can help our team push on. I'm delighted he has chosen us."
European wins
Signed from Dutch club Willem II in May 1999, Hyypiä has scored 35 goals in 453 games in all competitions for Liverpool. He has helped the Reds win a number of cup competitions, including the UEFA Cup in 2001 and, four years later, the UEFA Champions League, scoring a fine volley in the home first leg of the quarter-final against Juventus. Liverpool's website said: "History will undoubtedly judge the big Finn to be one of the club's shrewdest pieces of business – and possibly the best pound for pound signing ever to arrive at Anfield."