Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet is going to be staying put in Anfield this summer and he’ll serve as the back-up to Alisson Becker this season. With a couple days left before the transfer window closes in several European countries, there was talk the Belgian could still move abroad, but according to The Guardian it’s not going to happen.
With Loris Karius completing his deal to go out on loan to Besiktas for two years, the Reds simply won’t let both back-up goalkeepers leave the club. This despite Mignolet wanting a move away to a club where he could play regular first team football.
The Guardian writes that LFC “would entertain only a permanent deal for Mignolet, who failed to agree personal terms with Fulham while Napoli, the keeper’s preferred option, refused to meet Liverpool’s valuation.”
With Karius now gone, the only other goalkeepers available other than Alisson and Mignolet are the 19-year-olds Caoimhin Kelleher and Kamil Grabara. It’s clear that Mignolet is rather upset that Karius is the shot-stopper who got to leave and be aNo. 1 somewhere else. Jurgen Klopp had to keep at least one, but Mignolet referred to the Karius transfer as bizarre.
If Karius succeeds at his new club, the two year loan deal includes an option to make the transaction permanent.
“I find it bizarre that Karius was loaned while I also had options to be loaned, but for some reason that was not possible,” Mignolet told Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuw.
“The transfer of Karius doesn’t change anything for me. I have always been clear: I want to play.”
“Being No 2 or No 3 makes little difference. Playing minutes is the most important thing. Nobody has said anything to me after the departure of Loris. So I don’t know what my future at Liverpool is. We will see what happens this week.”
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