Iago Aspas
Aspas is a product of Liverpool's meticulous scouting network, Ayre boasts. (Twitter)

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre has lavished praise on the club's scouting network after successfully sounding out the talents of the club's latest addition Iago Aspas.

The Reds yesterday confirmed the arrival of the Spaniard from Celta Vigo for a reported fee of £7m, having also completed the transfer of his compatriot Luis Alberto from Sevilla this week.

While the club have immediately busied themselves in the transfer market after a disappointing seventh place finish in the Premier League last season, Ayre has singled out the arrival of Aspas as testament to the diligence of the club's scouts, and to Brenan Rodgers' own keen eye for talent.

"He's a great talent, one that Brendan identified a long time ago," Ayre told the club's official website.

"The scouting network and everybody else have done a lot of hard work to get him here and I'm pleased that we've been able to get his signature and have him in the squad.

"As we've always said, we've got our targets. We will work as hard as we can to bring them in. As we've said before, it's always about getting the right players and the right deals for both sides.

"There's a lot of work going on, there's certainly no shortage of that. Hopefully we'll have some more success."

Aspas is the club's third addition to the squad this summer following the arrivals of Alberto and Kolo Toure, who arrived after his contract at Manchester City expired.

Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet is also expected to join the club in a move that could be completed later on today. The Belgian shot stopper is expected to agree terms with the Merseyside club and complete a medical after a £9m deal was agreed.

Armenian international Henrikh Mkhitaryan has also been heavily linked with a move to Anfield after it was heavily suggested a deal had been agreed for the 24-year-old's services. However his club Shakhtar Donetsk have denied they have been in contact with Liverpool, although they admit they are unsure of the attacking midfielder's whereabouts.

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