London, July 16 (IANS) Liverpool have signed Aston Villa's Stewart Downing for 20 million pounds.

The Liverpool manager had to cut short his trip with the team in Malaysia and flew back Thursday night to seal the deal.

"Kenny Dalglish has pushed the boat out to get me here. It's a great feeling and I'm very happy to be here. It's been a long time coming and I've had to wait a few weeks but I'm really pleased," Downing was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

The 26-year-old winger becomes Dalglish's fourth signing this summer.

"With the tradition, the manager and the players they have here, there was a big temptation and once I knew of their interest, there was only one place I wanted to go. When I wanted to come to Liverpool, it was the first thing I thought of - playing at Anfield in front of those great fans. I'm really looking forward to it," said Downing.

Downing joins AS Roma's Alexander Doni, Jordan Henderson from Sunderland and Blackpool's Charlie Adam as Liverpool's summer recruits.