Simon Mignolet says will not spend another season as second-choice goalkeeper at Liverpool

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Bengaluru, April 25: Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has suggested that he will not spend another season at Anfield being the second-choice goalkeeper. The Belgian is currently second on the ranks to German keeper Loris Karius.

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Since Pepe Reina left the club in 2013, Liverpool have struggled in the goalkeeping area. Simon Mignolet joined the club from Sunderland in 2013 and appeared over 200 matches for them, but question marks still remain over his performance.

Over the last two years, Klopp has developed Liverpool into a great attacking team. But he has often been criticised over his failure to solve defensive problems and the shaky display of Mignolet at goal has not helped matters.

New acquisition Karius, who was signed from Mainz last summer, has now overtaken the Belgian as the No 1 keeper of the squad. And with Karius in good form, the 30-year-old is now expected to spend the remainder of the season on the sidelines.

Mignolet last played for the Kops in Liverpool's 3-2 FA Cup defeat to West Bromwich Albion in January and now, in an interview with Belgian media HLN, the shot-stopper has suggested he is unhappy serving as a backup to Karius. He hinted that if the current situation does not change, he might have to look for a better opportunity elsewhere.

Asked if he was happy to continue as a backup, Mignolet said: “Absolutely not, this is really nothing for me, it has already been too long.

“I’m much more nervous on the bench than on the pitch, I want to be able to contribute something."

He added: “I still have a contract for three seasons and I am not busy with what is going to happen this summer, I work for the team and the World Cup, the rest is for club people and agents.”

The goalkeeper furthermore also questioned Klopp's rotating policy. Mignolet started the season as Liverpool’s number one goalkeeper but often saw his first-team birth overtaken by Karius in the process.

And the Belgian keeper has suggested the German manager's decision to rotate goalkeepers at the start of the season didn’t allow him to settle down.

But the 30-year-old added that he has been a thorough professional despite not getting many chances. “It has been too long”, the goalkeeper said. “But you will never find me messing up the dressing room environment or lowering my levels in training as creating a negative vibe is completely useless.

“I had several conversations with the coach but I would rather not divulge the content.

“I was having a reasonably good season, and apart from the mistake against Arsenal, I don't think there was much to blame myself for.

“Rotation or resting, whatever you call it, being in and out of the team, is definitely not the best way for a goalkeeper to perform at a high level for a whole season.”

Mignolet has played 22 matches so far this season, keeping seven clean sheets in the process and is expected to go to the 2018 Russia World Cup as a back up to Chelsea's Thibaut Courtois.