LONDON, July 22 — Liverpool have signed veteran goalkeeper Alex Manninger on a short-term contract, the Premier League club said today.

The 39-year-old Austrian, who spent five years with Arsenal from 1997-2002, signed on a free transfer after leaving German side Augsburg at the end of last season.

Manninger is likely to be Liverpool’s third-choice keeper behind Simon Mignolet and new arrival Loris Karius.

"When Liverpool was on the phone, it was a great pleasure for me to take it on because it gives me what I was looking for,” Manninger told the club’s website.

"This is the moment I was waiting for until the end.”

Manninger, a former Austrian international, is Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp’s sixth signing of the close season, following the additions of Karius, central defenders Joel Matip and Ragnar Klavan, forward Sadio Mane and midfielder Marko Grujic. — Reuters