Club Brugge have signed Belgian international Simon Mignolet from Liverpool on a five-year deal, the Belgian giants confirmed on Sunday.
Club Brugge have made an official statement to confirm that they have secured the services of Simon Mignolet. The Belgian international has left Liverpool after spending six seasons at Anfield and has signed a five-year contract with the Blauw-Zwart.
Mignolet spent a mixed bag of a six-year spell at Anfield, having joined Liverpool from Sunderland in the summer of 2013. In his maiden campaign with the Reds, the Belgian goalkeeper displaced Pepe Reina, an achievement in itself at the time and was a largely solid contributor as the club nearly won their first Premier League crown.
Thumbs up, Big Si is in the house ??? @SMignolet pic.twitter.com/q4chRpMPXv
— Club Brugge KV (@ClubBrugge) August 4, 2019
But, post a decent start with the Merseyside club, Mignolet became a frustrating player due to his tendency of being error prone. The arrival of Loris Karius in 2016 saw him share game time with the German. But, with Karius also becoming an unreliable figure, Liverpool had to invest big in a goalkeeper last summer.
Upon the capture of Alisson Becker, Mignolet was practically met with the end of his Liverpool stint as the Brazilian played week in week out for the Reds. And, after his first season as the backup custodian at Anfield, the Belgian international has called it quits at the club.
Rumours of his departure have been swirling all summer long, with Bournemouth and Crystal Palace being named as possible suitors. But, the 31-year-old will not be joining any Premier League club and has instead returned to his homeland, with Club Brugge landing the Liverpool outcast.
The Jupiler Pro League leaders have secured the Belgian international for the next five years, with a report from BBC suggesting that the Blauw-Zwart have shelled out €7 million. Liverpool could receive an additional €2 million in add-ons.
The final fee is significantly lower than what had been suggested in earlier reports, which had claimed that the Reds wanted nearly double that figure. Mignolet though, is set to compete for regular game time again after nearly 18 months of playing second fiddle to Karius and Alisson.
With the departure of the Belgian international, 20-year-old Caoimhin Kelleher could be the new backup to Alisson, seeing as Karius is still on-loan at Besiktas. But, BBC suggest that Liverpool will likely sign a replacement, although with just three days left in the English window, they will need to move quickly to do so.
