Former Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has admitted that he ‘had’ to leave the Reds last summer because he was tired of ‘sitting on the bench’.
The Belgian international moved back to his homeland to join Club Brugges, and he has revealed that waiting in the wings behind Alisson led him to leave Anfield.
“I think it got to the stage where I had to leave,” he told Goal. “I had been sitting on the bench for a year and a half, and with Euro 2020 coming up I knew that I needed to be playing regularly if I wanted to be part of the Belgian squad.”
“Some people are able to accept being a backup, and that can work for them. But for me, I am not a character who wants to sit on the bench. I want to play, and this summer the opportunity came up to come back to Belgium and it was the right one.”
OPINION
It’s difficult not to have respect for Mignolet. He’s not the greatest ‘keeper in the world, and certainly isn’t in Alisson’s class, but he is a good goalie and he didn’t want to spend his career as a back up. There are plenty of ‘keepers who do settle for being a number two, getting well paid for not much game time, but Mignolet isn’t that type of person, and his move to Brugges proves that. Doubtless he had to take a pay cut to join the Belgian giants, but that didn’t matter to him. Clearly he’s not interested in money, he simply wants to play football and represent his country. With Euro 2020 around the corner he knew he couldn’t afford to continue sitting on the sidelines at Anfield if he was going to make the tournament with Belgium. That was a brave decision, but it seems like the right one for him. Plus, he’s still been playing Champions League football this season, so good for him.
