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When Brendan Rodgers signed Tiago Ilori and Mamadou Sakho on transfer deadline day back in September 2013, their arrivals were billed as a fix to the club's centre back problems for years to come.

But while the latter would go on to figure heavily for the Reds before eventually being discarded by Jurgen Klopp, Ilori would never play a single league game for the club.

Celebrating his 29th birthday today, Ilori now plies his trade in his mother's Portuguese homeland for Boavista, on loan from Libson club Sporting, where it all began for him.

Despite being born in London, Ilori can claim duel nationality thanks to his Nigerian father and Portuguese mother.

It was in Portugal where his football education was rooted, first appearing for Algarve outfit Imortal Desportivo before stepping up to join the youth setup of Lisbon giants Sporting.

Standing 6ft 3" tall, it was here that Ilori was converted from a striker into a centre back - a decision helped by spending time on loan with Estoril.

Having made his first team debut for Sporting in November 2011, Ilori played half of the