Former Liverpool and England goalkeeper Chris Kirkland recently stated that he had asked the club to sign Jordan Pickford. The young goalkeeper has been one of the stand-out players in a Sunderland team that has flirted with relegation but the Reds ignored the advice of their former keeper.

Kirkland had worked with the current Sunderland goalkeeper at Preston last season and expects the 22-year-old to move away from the Black Cats in the summer.

Speaking to BT Sport, Kirkland stated:

“I told Liverpool to sign him last summer.

“He will have all of the top clubs looking at him – not just in England, but in Europe as well.

“He definitely won’t be there [at Sunderland] next summer. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is not there come January.”

The 35-year-old Kirkland also believes that Pickford has the talent to become one of the best in the world and was full of praise for the 22-year-old.

“For me, he could be one of the best in the world – he is the best I have worked with, that’s for sure.

“He would make saves like that all of the time at Preston. I think he has made the second most saves in the Premier League this season.

“It is really up to him how far he goes because he has the whole package.”

Liverpool could do with someone like Pickford

There have been a number of pundits and former players who have criticised current Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius. The former Mainz star was brought to the club at the start of the season and the 23-year-old replaced Simon Mignolet as the number one keeper.

The start of his career at Liverpool certainly has been shaky and there have been a number of high-profile errors from the 23-year-old. He was responsible for the loss against Bournemouth and was partly responsible for the two goals conceded against West Ham.

That has been five points that the Reds have dropped, and has seen them drop to six points below the leaders Chelsea. Jurgen Klopp though has defended Karius and expects the German to make a mark for the Reds.

Truth be told, Karius needs help and he needs a bit of a confidence boost at the moment. Even David de Gea had a poor start to his career and even another new goalkeeper in the league, Claudio Bravo, is struggling to make a name for himself.

Karius was one of the best goalkeepers in the Bundesliga last season but he really needs to step it up and hopefully against Middlesbrough, the German will do much better in between the sticks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0kqp5y1bBU