LIVERPOOL, England - Liverpool acquired Danish midfielder Christian Poulsen from Juventus on Thursday and signed him to a three-year contract.

Poulsen, 30, cost Liverpool about $7 million. The defensive midfielder was with Juventus from 2008-10, and has also played with Schalke and Sevilla. He played under Liverpool coach Roy Hodgson at Copenhagen earlier in his career.

"Christian would be a perfect addition to most of the big clubs in Europe, so he will certainly fit in here," Liverpool and Denmark international Daniel Agger said, according to sportbox.tv. "He is a top player and will make us stronger. We need to have big signings so we can compete and he is one of those players.

"He has played in Italy, Spain and Germany and done very well, so I don't see any reason why he shouldn't be a success with Liverpool."

Poulson has played 77 times for Denmark and appeared in all three of Denmark's games in the recent FIFA World Cup.

Liverpool hosts Arsenal on Sunday as both teams open the new Premier League season.