Jamie Carragher believes Liverpool have sent out a strong message with their capture of Joe Cole.
Cole has agreed to join the Reds on a free transfer following his release by Chelsea and will be reunited with England World Cup team-mates Carragher, captain Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson at Anfield this season.
Tottenham and former club West Ham United were also both pursuing the 28-year-old midfielder before he settled on the Merseyside club on Monday.
Cole will sign a four-year contract to become new manager Roy Hodgson's first signing following a medical during a pre-season training camp in Switzerland this week.
"It's great news and it is a message that Liverpool mean business," Carragher told the club's official website.
"We have signed a top international player who has been really important for Chelsea.
"A lot of clubs wanted to sign him but it is a real coup that he has chosen to come here and you have got to give the manager and the board a pat on the back for convincing him to come here.
"Every supporter that I have spoken to is absolutely delighted and all the players are the same – it's given everyone a boost, just at the right time.
"It has been a long summer and we have been in a transitional period but now the World Cup is out of the way, we can start to look forward again.
"Joe is a player who has the ability to get supporters off their seats and I've no doubt he will do that here. The fact we have got him has given everyone a boost around the city.
"It's good news again and, hopefully, there will be more to come. It's the kind of signing that we needed to make."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email