MARK GONZALEZ TALKS TO LIVERPOOLFC.TV
Chilean international Mark Gonzalez has finally completed his move to Anfield after a frustrating wait for his work permit to be granted. Here's his first interview since signing for the Reds.
Liverpoolfc.tv: How excited are you to finally be a Liverpool player?
Mark Gonzalez: It's very exciting for me. It took a long time to get a work permit but I have it now and it's great to finally be able to say that I'm a Liverpool player. It was a long year for me waiting for to see if I could get a permit but it's all sorted now and I'm happy to look to my future with this club. Did you ever worry that it might not happen for you?
There's always a small doubt at the back of your mind because you can never take anything for granted but everyone was always telling me there was an 80 per cent chance that I would get the permit. I had faith in everyone who was working on my case and of course I'm delighted with the end result. When you first heard that Rafa wanted to sign you, how did you feel?
I was out injured at the time when he first called me and it gave me a great boost to hear he was interested. It can be difficult coming back from a bad injury, but when you know a club like Liverpool wants to sign you then it makes you work harder and psychologically it gives you a huge confidence booster. Of course I wasn't to know then that it would take another year to sort the problems out.
There was never any doubt in my mind that I wanted to come to Liverpool because I know all about the history and the tradition of the club Has the Premiership always been a league which has appealed to you?
Yes, because I have always felt I have the qualities to play in the English league. What I want to do now more than anything is play. It's easy for me to sit here and say I can play well in this country – I want to go out and prove it week after week. How much did you enjoy your time with Real Sociedad last season?
It was a great experience to play in such a high class league and do well. I had a good few months there and I think that helped me secure the work permit.You scored some good goals as well….
Yes, five in fourteen games so I was quite happy with that.Because we all knew about Liverpool's interest in you, there were lots of Liverpool fans watching you regularly on the television…
I'm glad my time with Sociedad went well. I wanted to perform for them to help them in their league but I also knew I would soon be going to Liverpool so I was really keen to impress.The manager has been speaking highly of you for many months so the fans are expecting big things…
I know about that and now I want to show people why he has been praising me and prove that the club weren't wrong in signing me. What qualities will you bring to the team?
Everyone knows about my pace but I think I bring a lot of qualities to the side. I like to get past players and I also enjoy scoring goals. As I said earlier though, words are easy and I need to produce on the field for the club and the fans. Are you settling in well into life in the city?
Yes, I love it. From the first day everyone has made me feel really welcome. There weren't too many players here on my first day at Melwood but I still felt at home rightaway. It's an honour for me to be at this club. What's the target for the team this season?
I want to win a lot of things with Liverpool. This is a big club with the capability of winning lots of trophies. I don't like to think too far into the future because you don't know what is going to happen, but I am confident we will do well this season and in future years.
The club has shown in winning the Champions League that they can compete at the very top. I was in Madrid watching that game and it was one of the best I have ever seen. It was actually in that same month that Rafa first called me to talk about coming to Liverpool so I watched the final with greater interest and was delighted to see the boys winning the trophy. Are you ready for first team football now or might it take a while to adapt to Premiership football?
I have experience of playing first team football both in Chile and in Spain but at the same time you have to realise I am only 22 years of age and I still have a lot to learn. The Premiership is very different to Spanish football so I know I need to adapt to the pace of the game here but I'm hoping that can happen very quickly. The best way to learn is to play games so hopefully I will get opportunities. I'm still in the early days of a four year contract so I have a long way to go yet.
Home 
