Records broken as Liverpool sign Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll

The £22.8million deal for Suarez's move from Ajax, agreed on Friday, was confirmed early last night but by then Carroll was already at Melwood undergoing his medical and, like his new team-mate, signing a five-and-a-half-year deal.

Liverpool used the £50million they banked from the sale of Fernando Torres to Chelsea to quickly find a younger replacement to fill the Spain international's number nine shirt.

Owners Fenway Sports Group had pledged to invest in younger players and in Carroll, just turned 22, they have done so in emphatic style.

They will also probably argue that selling a player, who has been troubled by injuries over the last year, and approaching his 27th birthday in March also represents good business.

Carroll, who scored 34 goals in 91 matches for Newcastle and a brief loan spell at Preston, will form the new attacking partnership with Suarez, two years his senior, whose prolific record in Dutch football - 111 goals in 159 matches - was one of the reasons he was Liverpool's primary target.

His arrival has been somewhat overshadowed by Carroll's surprise signing and Torres' departure but Dalglish was keen for the Uruguay international not to be left out of the spotlight.

"I think he is a top player. He is a fantastic goalscorer," said the Reds boss of Suarez, who will wear the iconic number seven shirt synonymous with Dalglish the player.

"He's a good leader and he was captain of Ajax, which is unusual for a forward to be captain - that tells us something really positive about the lad.

"He will come here and we'll try to get him playing the way he played at Ajax."

The Uruguay international is keen to help bring a new era of success back to the club.

"My ambitions for the future are to do my very best for Liverpool, to try to learn more about English football and to become a champion," he said.

"I am very happy to be here. For me this is the most important club not just in England but the whole world."

Dalglish was also keen to praise FSG for backing him in the transfer market, which must in turn improve his chances of retaining the manager's job beyond his initial temporary appointment to the end of the season.

"The owners have been absolutely fantastic in their support during the transfer window," said the Scot.

"Our reassurance for the supporters out there is that they are really determined to get the club moving forward. It's not a PR exercise either, it's a real determination from [the owners] to step forward and move Liverpool Football Club forwards and upwards."

The day began inauspiciously with defender Paul Konchesky going on an "emergency" loan to npower Championship side Nottingham Forest until the end of the season.

Konchesky, who only arrived at Anfield on August transfer deadline day, was intrinsically linked to Roy Hodgson's failed six-month reign and lost his place to Glen Johnson playing out of position at left-back.

Coventry's 17-year-old midfielder Conor Thomas has joined Liverpool's reserves on loan until May.