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It is the summer transfer that has provoked plenty of head-scratching, and responses that range through the whole puzzled gamut from 'odd' to 'bizarre'.

Yet if that head-scratching delves a little deeper under the surface - if you'll excuse the unpleasant analogy - then it will discover that far from being a strange signing for Brendan Rodgers, the capture of Ricky Lambert makes perfect sense.

Last week, the Kirby-born striker completed a remarkable journey home when he headed to the Liverpool academy HQ just around the corner from his childhood haunts, for a medical before signing for the club he supported as a kid this morning.

It will, in fact, complete a remarkable week for Lambert, playing for England, signing for Liverpool, and jetting off to the World Cup with his country. As his sister Melanie tweeted last week, words simply can't describe it.

If ever a player deserves such a fairy-tale ending to a difficult, if compelling story, then it is the likeable, quick-witted 32-year-old who refused to be derailed by the many obstacles that have been strewn across his career path.

Cast aside as a devastated teenager after five years in the Anfield youth ranks, Lambert famously fought back from even worse adversity when he was released by boyhood idol Steve McMahon at Blackpool.

Just 19, he worked in a pickling plant before accepting £20-per-week expenses to play for Macclesfield. It is that determination, an innate tenacity, that attracts Rodgers.

(Image: PA)

But that is not the reason behind the £4m transfer, nor is it the player's pride in his Scouse roots, which will certainly endear him to Liverpool fans and make him - without question - an instant crowd favourite.

Many have already questioned the signing of Lambert because Rodgers signaled his intent early in his own Anfield career by taking a massive financial hit to offload Andy Carroll.

For the Reds boss, not even a painful loss of almost £20m for the club could deter him from his dedicated style of fluid, intelligent, attacking football, which simply had no place for a one-dimensional, old-fashioned centre forward.

But those who lazily cast Lambert in the same bracket clearly don't get what Rodgers gets. The England striker is far more than a target man, as the man who set him on the road to forward fame explains.

Steve Parkin was the Rochdale manager who converted the then raw 23-year-old from midfield to attack, and explains it wasn't the player's physique that persuaded him.

Video: Rickie Lambert facts and stats

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"He was a big lad yes, but he had exceptional touch and ability. His midfield mindset made him good at reading the play and dropping off," Parkin explains now.

"He's always been able to see a move two or three passes before it happens so he's always one step ahead and able to develop the play."

That is exactly the type of striker Rodgers like, one with intelligence in both passing and movement. And he doesn't mind a big striker either, because they have the presence to hold the ball and allow runners beyond... just so long as they can maintain the passing momentum.

For evidence, look no further than Danny Graham. Rodgers paid a then record fee to make him his first major Premier League signing for Swansea, and got far more from the big striker than was subsequently seen after his form earned a big money move to Sunderland.

Rodgers has always been an admirer of Lambert, admitting as much when Southampton visited Anfield last year, with the manager saying then he could envisage a role in the Liverpool set up.

That role will involve him acting as goalscoring back up to the Suarez-Sturridge partnership, but also playing behind a striker to link up the adventurous style Rodgers has developed.

Related gallery: Rickie Lambert's career in pictures

At 32, his age too, will be a benefit, not a hindrance, because even though he's an England international, he will accept he can't play every week... an advantage when a bigger squad is required for the Champions League.

Indeed, don't expect Lambert to be Liverpool's last forward signing this summer. His arrival could well signal the departure of Fabio Borini for a fee of around £14m, which will free up funds for the "top goalscorer" Rodgers wants to add, with Barcelona's Pedro still his number one target.

With Adam Lallana another possible addition from Southampton and Dejan Lovren still a real possibility, then there could be a Saintly element at Anfield next season.

For Lambert, it wouldn't matter if there was a devilish one. All that matters is he can return to the club he once dreamed of representing, and march into the dressing room to take his place alongside Steven Gerrard.

When he was a kid in the Anfield youth ranks, Gerrard was two years ahead, and the shining light often held up for the rest of the youngsters to follow. It has been a long and seemingly impossible route, but follow he has, and that is as inspiring a story as it gets.