Mignolet was brought in by Brendan Rodgers from Sunderland for £9m after Pepe Reina had informally agreed a move back to Barcelona - a transfer which didn’t happen because Victor Valdes decided to stay on another season. But it was too late as Liverpool had already signed a replacement keeper and Reina was surplus to requirements.
Rodgers wanted his keeper to be the eleventh player, able to pass the ball around the defence comfortably and build attacks from the back. Mignolet struggled with that and has made many blunders because of his indecisiveness.
Klopp clearly wants more of the same and needs a keeper who is comfortable on the ball and able to make the right pass, whether that be to a defender or a short to mid-range ball to the midfield. During last season it became clear that Mignolet wasn’t that person.
In came Loris Karius in the summer, taking the unused no. 1 shirt with many assuming it wasn’t just the number but the first choice keeper role. He does have the confidence to play the ball across the back and kick it well. The addition of Alex Manninger reinforced that belief that all was being prepared for a changing of the guard on the goalkeeping front.
A broken right hand during Liverpool’s US Tour ruled Karius out for the start of the season and allowed Mignolet another chance to prove himself. Unfortunately, every time the ball goes near him we’re left biting fingernails and breathing a communal sigh of relief when he clears or saves it.
Mignolet was at fault for Leicester’s goal on Saturday. Lucas may have slipped on the ball, but Mignolet shouldn’t have even been passing it to him with a Leicester player running at him.
Klopp says that having two keepers wanting first team football is a ‘challenge and competition’, but now that Karius is fit we may well find that the Leicester game is the last Mignolet plays for Liverpool and we once again have a No. 1 in goal.