Club Brugge goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has admitted he took a big risk in leaving Liverpool to make the move to the club in 2019.
Mignolet spent six years with Liverpool after signing from Sunderland in 2013, first arriving as the new number one for then-manager Brendan Rodgers.
He held that status for several years before eventually being ousted by Loris Karius and then his replacement Alisson.
Following the Brazilian’s arrival, the Belgian goalkeeper found himself increasingly out of the picture at Anfield, with him very much the number two behind the new star man.
That’s a decision which has paid off for him, with Mignolet the undisputed number one at the club, where he has won the Belgian title for the last three years and played regularly in the Champions League.
That’s something he’s now reflected on, speaking about the decision in a conversation with newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.
“I took a very big risk at the time,” he told them.
“I could have taken out my contract at Liverpool, which would have given me many more options as a free agent. Or I could have opted for an intermediate step first.
“It was only this year that there was some criticism of me for the first time. Nobody had to tell me that I was having a lesser season. I knew that myself.”
“We did have some doubts at the time,” adds his wife, Jasmien.
“We asked ourselves: ‘Isn’t it too early to return to Belgium already?’ I had seen England, but something more southern would suit me. It turned out to be Belgium…
“I wasn’t even here when he qualified Club for the Champions League through the qualifiers. For now, it’s running like a dream.”
