Simon Mignolet (Sunderland)

Point being, what you or I think of the cost doesn't matter, it matters what the money men and Rodgers think.

You do my head in lad

Maybe it doesn't matter but it's there to be discussed mate. If not then JD might as well shut up shop.

Your point sums up many a post on this forum. Too many people are too eager to belittle conversation unless its Federer or Ribaparu and its pretty much justified!
Joking fellas....i actually appreciate many of your opinions.

I like the signing as long as a) Reina doesn't leave and b) we can still afford to buy the players necessary in other positions that we desperately need to fill. If we can't afford to sign the likes of Papadopoulos or Mkhitaryan because we've spent £9m on a back up keeper then I won't be impressed.

Definitely see this happening, as can see Pepe leaving.  I rather Mignolet over Begavic, would love to see the stats on amount of saves/shot at each goal last year if anyone has them to hand.

Been one of the best keepers in the league for several seasons, and racked me up a fair few points on fantasy league too !

IMO there is no way that he is possibly being signed as a back up keeper.
If he is purchased it is clearly because Pepe is off.

If that is the case then i have to say that though sad to see Reina leave, Mignolet is a very good young keeper who i'd be more than happy to have as our new number 1.

You do my head in lad

Do you think he would come here to be an understudy mate?

The even remote possibility of signing Mignolet signals that Reina might just be going. I hope Reina stays as we have an exciting Season coming up and i'd hate to see Reina miss out on something he's helped build up.

It's a lot of money to pay for a back up keeper and i doubt Mignolet would give up regular football to sit on the bench here.

Is he as good as Reina?. No.

Can he be as good as or better than Reina?. Possibly.

All this talk smacks of Reina leaving. I can't see a situation emerging where Mignolet comes here and sits around waiting for his opportunity.

I'd rather keep Reina, he is immense.

The reason for my thinking is that if we have a small transfer budget then i can't see us splashing out nearly £9 million on a back up keeper when there are other positions that need strengthening.

Or just maybe, we are starting to flex our financial muscle, you know?, the muscle that Werner said we had. The muscle to compete with anyone in football.

The even remote possibility of signing Mignolet signals that Reina might just be going. I hope Reina stays as we have an exciting Season coming up and i'd hate to see Reina miss out on something he's helped build up.

It's a lot of money to pay for a back up keeper and i doubt Mignolet would give up regular football to sit on the bench here.

Is he as good as Reina?. No.

Can he be as good as or better than Reina?. Possibly.

All this talk smacks of Reina leaving. I can't see a situation emerging where Mignolet comes here and sits around waiting for his opportunity.

I'd rather keep Reina, he is immense.

The reason for my thinking is that if we have a small transfer budget then i can't see us splashing out nearly £9 million on a back up keeper when there are other positions that need strengthening.

Or just maybe, we are starting to flex our financial muscle, you know?, the muscle that Werner said we had. The muscle to compete with anyone in football.

I'm hoping we are starting to see the benefit of two summer where the wage bill was stripped.

Liverpool could be securing his signature for when Reina leaves and loan him out for a season.

I'm hoping we are starting to see the benefit of two summer where the wage bill was stripped.

I hope you are right mate but i have to ask you, do you think he's coming as a back up or do you think Reina could just be on his way?.

Thought all the recent Reina quotes had him saying he wants to stay? Also read today that Valdes wants to see out his contract at Barca.

Seems a bit strange to me, he's too good to sit on the bench and I can't see us having enough money to buy him and loan him out for a year.

He's not going to sit on the bench when he's competing for Courtois for the number 1 spot in the national side, if we sign him Pepe is gone. Simples.

He's not going to sit on the bench when he's competing for Courtois for the number 1 spot in the national side, if we sign him Pepe is gone. Simples.

Indeed. Wilmots, coach of Belgium, has adviced his players to choose wisely this summer. Said it was important that they would play at their clubs ahead of Brasil2014.

Maybe Simon wants to come here if we promise him he will play all our european games

He will proabbly leave Sunderland this season, however... This would be a great chance to sign him and loan him back for the season, that way they would get their cash, we would get the player and he can play games.

I think the general concesus is that Pepe will leave next season (if not sooner) so having a backup who is playing games in the prem is not a bad idea.

Work with quite a few Sunderland fans and the general opinion is that he's very a talented keeper and they rate him extremely highly and there have been alot of scouts watching him this season

This one is gathering pace.

 

Liverpool set to agree £10m fee for Sunderland’s Mignolet


LIVERPOOL are winning the race to sign Sunderland keeper Simon Mignolet and the Black Cats’ Player of the Season could be Anfield-bound within days.


Reds boss Brendan Rodgers has made the Belgian stopper one of his top targets of the summer, but faced potential competition from Arsenal who are also involved in a summer of rebuilding, with Gunners’ boss Arsene Wenger given a massive war-chest to transform the London side into title contenders.

Liverpool are looking to do their transfer business early this summer and made an opening bid of £6.5m hoping to do an early deal, while Arsenal made their interest known but have yet to take that further.

Sunderland rejected Liverpool’s offer out of hand for a player who was pivotal in keeping the club in the Premier League last season.

But the Reds have not been dissuaded and have tabled several improved offers, rising to £8m early this week.

Yesterday, the Merseysiders were prepared to go to £9m, but Sunderland are holding out for a fee in excess of £10m for a player Steve Bruce paid £2m for, three years ago this week.

Now it looks like Liverpool have accepted Sunderland’s valuation.

And with the Reds prepared to pay a fee which the Black Cats’ believe approaches the keeper’s market value, Mignolet appears on his way to Anfield.

Arsenal could always step in with an 11th hour bid, but their are no immediate signs on an intervention from the Emirates and, that being the case, the deal to take Mignolet to Liverpool is on.

The club’s hottest property has been the subject of intense speculation since the end of the season and talks on an extension to his contract at the Stadium of Light, which still has two years to run, had stalled as the player and his agents considered their options.

Mignolet’s chief agent, Guy Vandersmissen, said earlier this month that the keeper would not ask for a move but that the ball was firmly in Sunderland’s court.

“There is a contract so we have to respect that, but I don’t think at this moment we would be prepared to sign a new contract,” commented Vandersmissen.

“There is another two years on his contract, if they want us to stick to that, we will stick to that and perhaps leave after two years if there is an interest in Simon.”

Sunderland though would not want the 25-year-old, whose reputation grew by the month in the Premier League last season, to leave on a Bosman in a couple of years time.

And it will be hard for the Black Cats to reject a particularly big offer which would give Paolo Di Canio room for manoeuvre under the financial fair play restrictions and allow him to strengthen other areas of the team.

Mignolet’s exit could see top-quality understudy, Republic of Ireland keeper Keiren Westwood, promoted to number one with England Under 19 goalkeeper moving up to number two.

That remains the most likely option, although Di Canio could also look to bring in a replacement for Mignolet which will still leave him the bulk of the transfer fee, or even look to bring in another keeper as Westwood’s number two.

What is clear though is that Mignolet will not be going anywhere unless Sunderland receive an acceptable offer and Liverpool appear to have accepted that valuation as they urgently seek a genuine replacement for Kop cult hero Pepe Reina, who is now expected to leave this summer.

Mignolet has been happy at the Stadium of Light since joining the club from St Truiden three years this week.

But he is desperate to oust Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtis as Belgian number one before the 2014 World Cup finals and knows that a good move would improve his chances.

The Sunderland keeper had an excellent season just gone and was absolutely pivotal in keeping the Black Cats in the top flight by the skin of their teeth, thanks to many points saving performances over the course of the campaign.

But he knows that a move to a higher profile stage will enhance the international prospects which mean so much to him.

I wish we were able to come to some agreement with Chelsea regarding Courtois to be honest but I think that is incredibly unlikely. If reports are to be true then Chelsea still owe us £15m of the Torres transfer. However, our powers of negotiation on that deal are taken away as that will be tied up in a bunch of little clauses relating to national appearances, trophies won, goals scored for club etc. In an ideal world we could say to Chelsea, forget about £10m of that money and we will have Courtois if you don't want him. That way nothing is taken out of our transfer budget apart from probably his salary.

This possible Mignolet transfer could be a difficult one to work out until the club announce the details (if it comes to fruition). Are we really in a position to spend £10m on a goalkeeper who possibly won't be playing for us next season? We could spend that £10m elsewhere on a position that we actually need for the upcoming season. Yes it means that we will have a keeper once Reina eventually does go but can't we just cross that bridge when it comes to it like we do with every other position when we sell somebody?

BBC: Liverpool are close to agreeing a deal for Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet

BBC Sport ‏@BBCSport 4m
Liverpool are close to agreeing a deal for Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet. Full story soon. #lfc #safc

 

From the beeb: Liverpool are close to securing a deal to sign Belgium goalkeeper Simon Mignolet from Sunderland.
Although the Anfield club have offered £8m and Sunderland's asking price is £10m, an agreement is expected to be reached in the coming days.

Can't say I am all that convinced by him. From what I've seen, he is a decent shot stopper but is probe to a few errors. Take Suarez' goal against Sunderland in 2011-2012 season, he should have covered his front post. They are basics for a goalkeeper.

He's not that bad. Better than Vorm for me!

Can't say I am all that convinced by him. From what I've seen, he is a decent shot stopper but is probe to a few errors. Take Suarez' goal against Sunderland in 2011-2012 season, he should have covered his front post. They are basics for a goalkeeper.

All keepers are prone to some mistakes though right? I mean we are talking about Suarez though too...he makes most keepers look silly. From what I have seen of him Mignolet makes some highlight reel saves.