Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has told £18 million signing Mamadou Sakho he must wait his turn.
Rodgers is poised to retain Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger as his central partnership tonight against Swansea City, meaning Sakho will have to bide his time.
"It's a nice problem to have," said Rodgers. "I'd rather this than have a lack of talent to choose from. It just keeps everyone on their toes.
"I want to protect the present and the future of the club. Centre-halves are so hard to find now. You look at some teams, they've still got ageing centre-halves because it's very difficult to get a really good one.
"Sakho is 23; he's an experienced player with full international caps (for France); looks an absolute monster in training. He's one who's ready for now. That's what we want. We had the chance to (sign him) and protect the club for maybe the next 10 years.
"It's not so much a problem (trying to get him in the team). If you're winning games, it's very simple.
"The system is king. We will never be reliant on one player. The whole make-up of this is about the team. We can take one out, put one in and still be strong."
