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GOALKEEPER Charles Itandje has beaten the UEFA deadline to sign for Liverpool – paving the way for Scott Carson’s loan move to Aston Villa.

The Reds needed documents in place by 11pm last night to allow Itandje to be eligible for next week’s Champions League qualifier in Toulouse, and moved swiftly to secure the player’s registration.

But Liverpool must still get international clearance for the keeper to be involved at Villa Park tomorrow, or in France on Wednesday. That may still take a few days.

The keeper will wear number 30.

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Carson will now head for Villa Park for the season, with Liverpool warning Villa they must pay a whopping £13m if they want to make the deal permanent next summer.

The England Under-21 player won’t be eligible to face the Reds, even if the move goes through today.

The Reds are far from impressed by the manner they’ve effectively been forced into allowing Carson to move on as he’s put his international ambitions top of the agenda. But with £2.5m heading their way as for the loan deal - less than they’ve paid Lens for Itandje - the club has still conducted some profitable business. Benitez today played down any element of risk as Itandje arrives as the new number two. "He’s a good goalkeeper and the reports we had were good," said Benitez. "With goalkeepers it’s always an issue of confidence, but if we need him he will good enough. He’s played over 200 games in France." Itandje was at Liverpool once before on trial, but at the time Gerard Houllier decided to sign Patrice Luzi instead. Benitez said he felt he had no choice but to let Carson go as it was clear he was unhappy at the prospect of deputising for Pepe Reina. He explained: "When I was speaking to Scott throughout the month he kept talking about needing to play and also the national team. "I explained he is an important player for us and we don’t want to lose him, but finally we said if we could find another keeper the situation could change. The solution now is a loan deal and a new goalkeeper for us." Meanwhile, Sebastian Leto has now formally joined with the conclusion of his passport saga. The youngster will wear number 33, but he too must await clearance before officially making his debut. The Reds kick-off their campaign in the Midlands tomorrow with a clean bill of health. Only Fabio Aurelio, who is back in training, is unavailable.