[Xgenre]

Originally Posted by adamking80

Don't think he will be much value-add to the current team. I love my Finnan(Jason Bourne lookalike).

Steve Finnan
Born: April 20, 1976
Birthplace: Limerick, Republic of Ireland
Height: 6' 1''
Weight: 12.0 Pos: D
Age: 31
GP 20 | G 0 | A 2 (2007/08 Premier League)

Finnan has become a mainstay of the Liverpool team since joining from Fulham for a fee of around £3.5million in the summer of 2003.
Though he struggled to impress under Gerard Houllier in his first season, he was clearly rated by Rafael Benitez when he took charge in the summer of 2004.

The Republic of Ireland international became a vital player in the Premiership and in Europe as Liverpool surprisingly won the Champions League in 2005.

Finnan began his career in non-league football with Welling United and, as a 19-year-old, signed for Birmingham City in a £100,000 deal in the summer of 1995.

He struggled to breakthrough at St Andrews, making just 22 appearances before moving to Notts County. He originally joined the Meadow Lane club on loan in March 1996, but the club came back in to sign him for £300,000 in October of that year.

Some fine performances soon had Kevin Keegan interested, and in November 1998 Finnan joined the Fulham revolution for £600,000. He made his debut in a 2-1 home win against Chesterfield, and scored his first goal in a 4-0 hammering of Blackpool.

The Irishman's reputation continued to grow, a versatile player who can play virtually anywhere on the pitch, and before long he won full international honours with the Republic of Ireland.

Finnan was one of the outstanding players in Fulham's rise to the Premiership, and was unfazed when mixing it with the big boys.

He travelled to the 2002 World Cup with his country and again impressed as the Republic went out on penalties to Spain in the Second Round. He also scored in the fateful shoot-out.

As the 2002/03 season came to a close, Finnan's transfer to Liverpool was one of the game's worst kept secrets, and in June 2003 he made the switch for an undisclosed fee, believed to be £3.5million.

He made 209 appearances for Fulham, scoring seven goals.

Finnan was carrying a knock when he moved to Anfield, but made his debut in a 2-1 home defeat at Chelsea. He was also ruled out in March for six weeks with a shoulder injury.

He came of age under Benitez in 2004/05 emerging as an important player as Liverpool scooped the European Cup in Istanbul. Finnan started the final against AC Milan but unfortunately picked up an injury and was substituted at half time.

The right-back faced competition for his place in January 2006 when Liverpool strengthened their defence with the signings of Jan Kromkamp and Jose Miguel Gonzalez Rey Josemi.

But Finnan's solid defensive work and eagerness to attack down the flank proved too good for his challengers, who were forced to move away from Liverpool to get regular first team football.

Finnan is famously the only player to have played in every English football league, from the Conference to the Premiership, and it is a mark of the player's determination that he has won the FA Cup, the Champions League and played at the World Cup finals.

Info from soccernet. Finnan will be 32 this April. As players age, their recovery from each match slows down. It's time to buy some cover for Finnan. Anyway, may not be Rafinha too. Who knows? May be Bentley. Bentley's not signing a new contract at Blackburn until he is sure Blackburn can offer him European soccer.