West Ham boss Pellegrini wanted to keep Adrian

Yet the 32-year-old found himself immediately thrust into the spotlight following an injury to first-choice keeper Alisson Becker.

And Adrian became an instant Reds hero when he saved Tammy Abraham's key penalty in the shoot-out against Chelsea in Istanbul on Wednesday night as Liverpool lifted the Super Cup.

Pellegrini said: "I'm very happy for him, because he played a lot of years here at West Ham. He's a very good goalkeeper.

"For different reasons he couldn't find an arrangement to continue here. We wanted him here because not only is he a good goalkeeper but he is a good player for the squad.

"He signed for Liverpool and put in a very good performance and I'm happy for him."

Pellegrini takes West Ham to Brighton on Saturday looking to bounce back from their 5-0 opening-day mauling by Manchester City.

"It was not a good start to the season, we made too many mistakes and we need to improve to be a competitive team," he added.

"We must be consistent in our style. All the preparation, or the most part of it, is in the way we can improve our style of playing.

"One defeat will not change our mindset. We have built a good squad. We must try to play better, we must defend better but it is just one game."

Pellegrini is sweating on the fitness of record signing Sebastien Haller and Brazilian playmaker Felipe Anderson ahead of the trip to the south coast.

"They are trying to recover from the kicks they had in the last game. We will see tomorrow, we have some doubts," he said.

Midfielder Jack Wilshere has trained all week despite coming off with a dead leg against City.

Skipper Mark Noble remains sidelined by a calf injury but is expected to return to training next week.