Premier League: Liverpool confirm Steven Caulker deal

Liverpool have completed a deal to sign Queens Park Rangers central defender Steven Caulker on loan for the rest of the current season. Caulker, aged 24, has spent the first half of the season on loan at Southampton, the deal should have lasted until the end of the campaign but the parties agreed to terminate it in order to allow him to move to Anfield. This was an emergency situation for the Reds as they are going through a serious injury crisis, especially in defence. Central defenders Martin Skrtel, Mamadou Sakho and Dejan Lovren are all injured, and manager Jurgen Klopp has been forced to play midfielder Lucas Leiva in the middle of the defence. However, Caulker might be quite out of shape as he has made just one start at Southampton since the start of the season. His last match for Southampton was a 6-1 League Cup defeat against Liverpool, a match in which Caulker played quite badly. He is an England international though, with 1 cap and 1 goal to his name. Liverpool are 5/2 at Bet365 to finish inside the Premier League top four this season.