Wales skipper Ryan Giggs and manager John Toshack have joined forces to hail the arrival of Craig Bellamy at Liverpool.

The pair, captain and manager, are united in seeing the benefits of the £6million move from Blackburn for Bellamy as far as Wales are concerned.


Bellamy switched Cardiff hotels on Sunday, from Liverpool's to Wales', after producing the killer cross that won the Community Shield for his new club against Chelsea.


Now his next game will be to link-up with Giggs for their country's friendly against Bulgaria at Swansea tomorrow.

Follow up:

Giggs watched Bellamy's superb cross create Peter Crouch's winner at the Millennium Stadium on TV, and said with a smile:

"Maybe it is through gritted teeth, but Liverpool will improve Craig in so many ways.
"At previous clubs he has had to shoulder so much himself, but now he will have great players around him to take some of the pressure, and he may not even have to play all the matches.
"From what I have seen he's looked sharp. Craig's one of those players who just loves playing and I think it will only benefit him going to such a good and big club as Liverpool.
"Craig is a tremendous player and I'm sure he'll be a great player for Liverpool. He's got that speed and confidence and goalscoring ability so it's great news for Wales but not so good for the rest of the Premiership.
"I've not spent long in training with him but I know it's a move he desperately wanted. He's wanted to play in the Champions League, he wanted to play at the top of the Premiership and he's always wanted to play in big tournaments and I think his talent deserves that.
"He's so important for us in what we're trying to do with Wales. There's a big onus on the players who've been in the team for a while for us to set the standard to the younger ones coming through on and off the pitch and Craig is a big part of that."

For former Kop hero Toshack, the arrival of Bellamy at Liverpool is much easier to bear than for Giggs, who knows what damage his fellow countryman can do and is relishing the first League meeting between the clubs on October 22 at Old Trafford.


Toshack said:

"Craig has worked his way to Liverpool, they were his boyhood club.
"He had his problems at Newcastle, went to Celtic and won himself a medal. Then he went to Blackburn with Mark Hughes.
"He did well for Mark, they were good for each other, and now he has got this move which is great for him at his age.
"It comes at a great time, a big, big club. He's involved in the Champions League, he's won his first medal too in the Community Shield.
"Liverpool is very special, he'll love it. As for me, you can take the man out of Liverpool but you can't take Liverpool out of the man."

He added:

"Craig knows what to expect. I was having the same chat with Xabi Alonso, who made his debut for me at Real Sociedad and then went to Liverpool.
"They know that a European night at Anfield is something fantastic, and anything I may have achieved in football management is down to the eight years grounding that I had there. No question.
"We were always told there that the most important things in football were important 50 years ago, and they will be important 50 years from now.
"And I was taught so many important little things there, as will Craig, don't change for changes' sake, have some continuity,
"And that is what I will take with me to my grave. I would never have been as fortunate or successful as I have as a manager if I hadn't been at Liverpool as a player."

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