Brighton and Hove Albion are interested in signing Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet, according to the Mirror.
The newspaper claimed on their website that the Seagulls have joined Premier League rivals Crystal Palace in the hunt for the Belgian international this summer.
The Mirror report that the 31-year-old could be available for £8million, with only two years remaining on his current deal at Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp is reported by the Times to hold great admiration for the Reds’ stopper and reportedly has no intention to sell the keeper to Palace for the mentioned fee above.
Mignolet has quickly become backup to Alisson Becker at Liverpool and only made two appearances last season in total.
OPINION
This definitely seems like a strange stance to take for Mignolet, but one that Liverpool fans will no doubt admire. The Belgian international enjoyed a consistent spell in between the sticks since joining the Reds but was quickly replaced by both Loris Karius and Alisson in previous years. This would lead to many expecting their replacement keeper to leave in search of first-team football this summer – especially after only making a couple of appearances in cup competitions. A move to Brighton would see Mignolet come into competition with Mat Ryan, who has been outstanding for the Seagulls. The Belgian would more likely wish to challenge at Liverpool and would prefer to be guaranteed first-team football should any move come around. Klopp does think highly of Mignolet, and that could be a big factor in any decision to stay. The Belgian could fit nicely into either of Crystal Palace or Brighton, but the thought of fighting for survival instead of sitting on the bench watching a title-challenging side obviously doesn’t tickle his fancy. A back-up keeper that doesn’t cause many problems is great for Klopp, who could continue to play Alisson next season with no problems, something that will only help him in his pursuit of bringing the Premier League back to Merseyside after 29 long years without one.
