The agent of former Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has told Het Nieuwsblad (via Sport Witness) of the problems in securing the Belgian’s departure from Anfield.
Following the arrival of Alisson Becker from AS Roma off the back of the Champions League final defeat in 2018, the writing seemed on the wall for Mignolet and his future on Merseyside.
The Brazilian instantly took the number one berth in Jurgen Klopp’s side, leaving Mignolet and the much-maligned Loris Karius out of the picture. Having sat out the final months of his career on Merseyside, the 32-year-old is back to being number one in Brugge and inspired the club to domestic success last season.
The Belgian’s agent Nico Vaesen has opened up on the issues in getting his client out of Liverpool, telling Het Nieuwsblad (via Sport Witness):
We have already worked for more than a year on the preparation of the transfer of Simon Mignolet, long before the interest became concrete. After the defeat in the Champions League final against Real Madrid when Loris Karius was in the goal, it had been enough.
From then on, we visited Liverpool almost monthly to discuss Simon’s situation and prepare for a possible departure.
Vaesen added that, after the deal had been struck to take Mignolet to Club Brugge, the 32-year-old wasn’t allowed to leave until Klopp had found a replacement.
READ LIVERPOOL VERDICT
Not allowing Mignolet to leave immediately was a shrewd move from Klopp.
Liverpool more than most know the benefit of having a reliable goalkeeper in reserve as the Belgian’s replacement Adrian and youngster Caoimhín Kelleher have been required to step in on multiple occasions.
Mignolet played 204 times for Liverpool and, although he wasn’t always immune from mistakes, the 29-cap international was a steady hand in the Reds’ net more often than not.
