Belgium and Spaniard will go head to head to see who is the No 1 next season.
Liverpool head coach Brendan Rodgers says that he brought Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet to Anfield this summer to act as competition for first-choice shot-stopper Jose Manuel Reina, reports the Daily Mirror.
The highly rated Belgium international finally completed his long-awaited £9 million move to Liverpool earlier this week, however, according to the Northern Irishman the current Reds No 1 is going nowhere next season and instead both keepers will fight it out in pre season to establish who begins the new campaign between the sticks on Merseyside.
“I always felt it was important for us to have competition right the way through the squad, and that includes the goalkeepers,” Rodgers said.
“I spoke to Pepe about this a few months back and told him we wanted to bring in another goalkeeper as real competition. I was very open with my goalkeepers and they know the situation.
“Pepe has been terrific here. Brad Jones was excellent when he stood in last year and I felt we needed another one.
“We obviously lost a young goalkeeper in Peter Gulacsi so we needed three very capable goalkeepers.
“Simon comes in and we’ve got great competition and when you’ve got competition it pushes everyone to perform.
“Simon is one of the top young goalkeepers in Europe,” he said. “He’s shown that at Sunderland over the last few years.
“He’s got great stature – I think he was player of the season at Sunderland – and I really think he can improve on that talent.
“He’s part of the Belgian set-up and it’s their golden era of players so him coming here will hopefully increase his opportunities there also.”
Mignolet has been in England for the past three seasons now, having originally been brought to the Stadium of Light from Belgium outfit Sint-Truiden for just £2m by previous Black Cats boss Steve Bruce in June 2010.
And having played 101 matches for the north-east giants in the intervening three-year period, the 25-year-old has now fully established himself as being one of the most consistent and eye-catching shot stoppers plying their trade in the top flight.
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