Xavier ready for fresh start

The Portugese international has joined Turkish champions Galatasaray on loan for the rest of the season. If the move goes well it should become a permanent one in the summer. Despite enjoying his time as a Liverpool player, Xavier felt he had to seek a move to secure his international future.

He said: "Next year I have the European Championships in my native Portugal and I need to play football.

"I respect the manager's decision at Liverpool. I believe there is an art to that job, keeping 22 international players happy is hard.

"But if an international player is not involved that can affect his reputation and so for that reason I had to move.

"My only regret is that I wasn't more involved at Liverpool because I would have liked to have played and showed my abilities. When things started to go badly for the team I expected the call. I was waiting to play but, in the end, that never happened and I had to make the decision to go."