All Rafa Benitez 45 signings for Liverpool ranked!
By David Gate
Number 43: Jack Hobbs
The center back was a hot prospect at Lincoln. He made his debut as a 16-year-old and there was a scrum for his signature. Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur were both fighting hard for him but he chose to come to Anfield. He signed a contract on his 17th birthday.
Unfortunately for the Englishman he never got much of a chance in the first team. He was always on the brink of involvement and solid performances for the youth teams and reserves always had fans intrigued to his potential. He eventually went out on loan to Leicester where he played we and was enjoying himself
Hobbs decided that it was better for him to play first team football than fight for a place at Anfield. He made his move to Leicester permanent in 2009. He has spent most of his career in the Championship including the last 4 years with Nottingham Forest. @davidgatesports
Number 42: Gabriel Paletta
In the summer of 2006 Benitez wanted to bring in two young center backs to compete with Sami Hyypia and Jamie Carragher. One was Daniel Agger and the other was Gabriel Paletta. Many fans were more excited about Paletta with his reputation as a tough, scrappy defender from Argentina.
He only spent one season at Liverpool making only 8 appearances. He never really settled at the club and was keen to leave in 2007. Eventually he got move back to Argentina as he signed for Boca Juniors as a sweetener for the signing of Emiliano Insua.
After three seasons at Boca he moved to Italy to play for Parma. He began to thrive there, eventually earning a move to AC Milan. He was a regular for Milan in his one-and-a-half seasons. This summer saw a big clear out of players and he is now on loan at Atalanta. @davidgatesports