Liverpool have agreed a fee of just over £11million for Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet and the deal is expected to be completed as early as next week.
The 25-year-old will travel to Merseyside for a medical and to discuss personal terms this weekend and according to Liverpool Echo, Mignolet is expected to put pen to paper a five-year contract.
Mignolet, who joined Sunderland from Sint-Truiden for a paltry fee of just £2million in 2010-11, has two years left in his contract and has established himself as one of the highly rated goal keepers in the Premier League.
However, the signing of the Belgium international will definitely cast doubts over Pepe Reina’s future at Anfield.
The 30-year-old has reiterated that he is happy at Liverpool and wants to respect his contract that has three years left to expire but at the same time has not ruled out the possibility of moving to a high-profile club in the future.
The Reds are also closing in to sign the highly talented Sevilla youngster Luis Alberto. The 20-year-old has passed his medical tests at Liverpool and the transfer will be officially announced next week.
The youngster spent the last season on loan to Barcelona B where he impressed everyone with his goals (11) and assists. The Catalan giants had an option to sign him for €4m plus another €4m as variables, but they chose not to go for that route.
The youngster who came through the ranks of Sevilla said that moving to Liverpool is a huge step in his career and he is looking to adapt quickly in a new country.
Alberto will join the Reds for around £8million with another £2million as incentives; on a four-year-deal that can be extended to another year as optional.
Meanwhile, Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel’s agent has played down his client’s chances to join Serie A giants Napoli, claiming they don’t have the financial possibilities to sign him.
Finally, Liverpool target Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s move to the Anfield club is in jeopardy due to the player’s multiple ownership problems.
As per reports from Russian based journalist Artur Petrosyan, Shakhtar only own half of the right for the player while the other halves are owned by Oleg Mkrtchan (25%) and Ruben Ayrapetyan (25%). Mkhitaryan has had offers from Russian clubs Zenit Saint Petersburg and Anzhi Makhachkala, but he is not too keen to swap Ukraine for Russia, especially when Liverpool are knocking on the corridor.
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