After signing on loan from Liverpool until the end of the season, Spanish defender Daniel Ayala goes straight into the Rams squad against Leicester today. As always RamZone takes an in depth look with our full new player profile.

Daniel Sánchez Ayala was born on November 7th, 1990 in El Saucejo, Seville Province in Spain.

Ayala was a product of the youth system at Sevilla but after rejecting a professional contract with the Spanish club instead agreed on a move to Liverpool late in 2007. Liverpool paid compensation and signed the defender on a three-year contract.

During the 2007–08 season he was a major part of the Liverpool’s Under-18 team and in the 08–09 took the step up to the reserve team plus played with an injury to be a part of the Liverpool FA Youth Cup winning team over Arsenal.

The 2009 – 10  season brought his first team debut against Tottenham as a substitute in August of 09. He made his first state only days later at Anfield against. He made quite a few appearances during the rest of 2009 and was rewarded for his continuing improvement with a new contract to keep him a Liverpool player until at least 2012.

After not continuing his run of first team appearances, new manager Roy Hodgson sent the player to Hull City on loan in September of 2010 where he started in his first match on the same day as signing. His second match was against Derby County in which he scored his first competitive goals in their victory over the Rams.

His loan spell was cut short after 12 appearances for the Tigers when Liverpool recalled him for treatment when Ayala suffered a hamstring injury.

He had not fully recovered by the time the loan agreement ceased on January 1st with Hull City and after finally returning to action for the Liverpool reserves, Ayala immediately signed for The Rams on Friday the 11th February 2011.

The deal had been completed in principal well before the end of the January transfer window but Liverpool were keen to hold back the player until he was definitely ready for action.

Liverpool have long regarded the defender as a prospect for the future and with tall defenders traditionally taking time to develop, Derby will have a chance to see what all of the fuss is about from now until seasons end.

On signing the player after such a long chase, Nigel Clough was relieved to say the least:

"We're pleased to bring Daniel on board for the rest of the season, especially as he has been in demand and had a number of other clubs interested in taking him." 

"I would like to express our thanks to Kenny Dalglish and Liverpool that they have decided Derby County is the best place for Daniel at this stage of his development." 

"He is a talented defender who we've seen in action on numerous occasions and feel he has the qualities to help improve our defensive record, which we feel has not been good enough lately." 

"This deal has been in the pipeline for a few weeks and we've had to remain patient, but the hard work has now paid off and we're pleased to have Daniel with us."

Daniel Ayala went straight into the Rams squad for the home game against Leicester at Pride Park and is likely to find a place on the bench.

RamZone would like to wish Daniel the best of luck and a successful stint at Derby that benefits both the Rams but also his development as a footballer.

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