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Rafa Benitez believes new signing David Ngog can make an impact in the Premier League next season despite his tender age.
To watch Rafa talk about Ngog click here>>

The Liverpool boss knows his 19-year-old striker is not yet the finished article – though he does expect him to fight for a first-team place in 2008-09."He is training with the first team," Benitez told Liverpoolfc.tv. "Maybe he would find it difficult to play 90 minutes right now, but he will be able to. "Normally he will be available for the first team next season. He is a player who wants to improve quickly, so he will learn and then settle down.

"We have known the player for one or two years. He was in the last year of his contract and was a good price. He is a young player and has a lot of experience to gain, but he can also give a lot to us now as well as in the future." It has become customary for imported strikers to be labelled 'the next (insert the name of talented player from same country)' – but it's a trap Benitez is keen not to fall into. Instead the Spaniard wants supporters to decide for themselves who Ngog most resembles.

"He can play as a target man, but he is not strong because he is still very, very young," said Benitez. "He has quality, though. He can keep the ball and pass it, and he has good movement. "I think he has game intelligence, and yes, okay, he needs to improve physically a bit, but that will come with time and he works really hard. "It would be difficult to compare him to anyone now, I would advise the supporters to see him play and then it will be easier for them.

"There are players with his qualities in England but the supporters can decide whether he is like Emmanuel Adebayor or Nicolas Anelka or whoever. I don't like to think too much about this."