Report: Interest in Mignolet but Reds are keen to retain keeper

2 hours ago, TLW said:

Simon Mignolet is attracting a deal of interest by Liverpool's Premier League rivals but it has emerged that the Reds are just as keen to retain the Belgian goalkeeper.

The Mirror reports that Crystal Palace and Brighton are interested in signing the 31 year-old Belgian for a transfer fee in the range of £8 million.

However a different report from ESPN says that valuation falls short of their own and in any case, the club is determined to keep the veteran who they view as a fantastic influence in the dressing room.

James Milner said as much in April "It's incredible how he is around the training ground, he has the best attitude I've ever seen in my life."

It is that sort of high praise which is echoed across the club with Jurgen Klopp, goalkeeping coach John Achterberg, the rest of the backroom team and the playing squad wanting Mignolet to extend his six-year stay with the club.

It is also believed that sporting director Michael Edwards has not actually put a fee on Mignolet as he does not foresee a sale taking place.

 

Mignolet who has another two years to run on his current deal ,was signed from Sunderland in 2013 and has made over 150 appearances in that period.

 

 But he only added two cup appearances to that tally in 2018/9 after the summer signing of Alisson and the Brazilian did not give him a look in with his constant level of exceptional performances.

Liverpool have been linked Alex McCarthy for Southampton in recent weeks to fill the back-up role, but more and more, clubs are very keen on having a couple of senior players on their books to help the younger players coming through as well as the new signings.

In some ways being a number two is one of the toughest in football as you never know if, let alone when your number will be called.

But you cannot buy respect and it seems the Belgian has that in spades. 

It remains to be seen what will transpire between now and the end of the transfer window, but it seems a near on certainty that Mig has a place at Liverpool for the foreseeable future if he wants it.



 

 

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Liverpool's subs bench wouldn't be the same without him.

Knew it:

On 22/07/2016 at 12:15, Lizzie Birdsworths Wrinkled Chopper said:

I know this will get the piss ripped out of it, and obviously appreciate it was included with a load of stuff contradicted by the signing of Karius, but Klopp said something about Mignolet last year which raised my Roger Moore eyebrow at the time. He said he's one of the smartest goalkeepers he's ever worked with.

 

Stuck out like a sore thumb for a couple of reasons, one of them being obvious. The other being it's not really the sort of thing a manager just says to boost a player's confidence; too specific.

 

I was saying from back when we renewed his contract I thought we'd buy a new keeper and hang onto Mignolet as second choice (don't buy that he's worse than most teams second keeper, and having midtable Premiership side standard as reserve is a major improvement on recent times), and that's part of the reason why.

 

He obviously sees something we don't in Simple Simon off the pitch, and while I'm not being an "In Klopp We Trust" helmet, at this stage of his time here I'm generally quite curious as to his thinking and motivation in certain situations, given he's not exactly soft.

 

Likewise bringing Manninger in. Many of us for years have cited Achterburg as a major problem with our keepers, and during his time we've certainly seen anyone decent regressing and virtually everyone coming in quickly being worse/even worse than they were elsewhere.

 

Fuck knows why he's kept Achterburg on from our point of view, but he's had every chance to bin him off if he thought he was the issue, and hasn't done to date. A bit like Rafa, Klopp's obviously extremely analytical and seems to be consciously trying something different among the group of keepers. That indicates he knows there was an issue, but maybe doesn't think Achterburg is it. Karius is being brought into be our number one, there can be little doubt of that, but he's a young lad coming to a different league.

 

It just seems to me Klopp, for reasons unknowable/strange to those of us who only see the players in matches, thinks Mignolet has a positive part to play in him acclimatising to English football through providing him with competition, experience and insight, and presumably also suspects Mignolet's level will increase through not just having the ghost of a wheelie bin as his rival for the shirt and training partner.

 

The signing of Manninger provides vast experience for both of them to lean on, while at the same time Ward is loaned out to a mate of his to further his own development. Not pretending the plan will definitely prove to be correct, but it appears we finally have the novelty of someone in charge in possession of a joined-up one again, as those various moves haven't been selected at random and they're unmistakably all being made by Klopp.

Great news 

.

Shows how difficult it will be to sign anybody who thinks they have any chance of dislodging Alisson for the next decade.

I've always thought he was marginally less of a clusterfuck than Karius . Who knows we may have had btb CL's had Kloppo felt the same. Anyway can't get interested as to whether he stays or goes. 

Rather that spot was cunningly used on an English lad due to that daft fucking quota. 

9 hours ago, Grinch said:

Rather that spot was cunningly used on an English lad due to that daft fucking quota. 

Any decent English keepers?