The one position which needs an upgrade as soon as possible is the goalkeeper one. Since Pepe Reina left the club, the reds have looked very susceptible at the back and one of the main reasons for it is the goalkeeper not being at the level required for a club of Liverpool’s stature. Jurgen Klopp has shown confidence on Simon Mignolet since his arrival, but he must have been convinced of a need for a better man between the posts because of the Belgian’s shortcomings.
Simon Mignolet is a decent keeper and a brilliant shot stopper, but gets nervous when crosses are pumped into the box and is very poor at corners. His deputy, Adam Bogdan who arrived last summer is similar to the Belgian and is not the solution at all. Danny Ward has impressed but he can’t be handed the pressure of being Liverpool’s no.1 right away. That leaves Jurgen Klopp to look for a new goalkeeper and he will most probably look for one in the Bundesliga where he has an expertise in.
In comes Loris Karius of Mainz 05 who has been in the news recently has been targeted by the reds. The 22 year old has been one of the main reasons that Mainz have secured a Europa spot this campaign and has ten clean sheets this season. He has represented Germany in every group age till now and is dubbed as the next big thing to perform at a high level for the Germans.
Karius started his career for his local team SG Mettenburg in 2000 when he was just seven years old and then spent four years each at SSV Ulm and Stuttgart. At Stuttgart he came into the picture as everyone in Germany took notice of a youngster who had the potential of big things ahead. Then the 22 year old played for the Man City reserves between 2008-2011 and then joined Mainz’s second team helping them to promote to the second tier of the Bundesliga. From there he made a progress to the Mainz team in the Bundesliga and has impressed ever since.
Karius has every quality that is required to become a top notch keeper and perform at the highest level for a consistent period of time. He is a brilliant shot stopper and is an expert in punching the ball whenever balls are delivered into his danger zone. Though only being 6″ 2′, he makes up with his average height with his supreme speed to rush out of his position when needed. All this at 22 years of age and the young German has a bright future ahead of him. Basically, Loris Karius is everything that Simon Mignolet is not.
Liverpool have also scouted him before Klopp took over and at just at the reported value of £7.9 million, Karius appears to be a bargain for the reds. This deal should happen as soon as possible and only should be stalled if Liverpool can beat other big clubs to the signing of the highly rated Marc Andre Ter Stegen.
