“A nice rumour” – Stefan Leitl opens up on Liverpool interest in Hannover 96 goalie

Stefan Leitl opens up on Liverpool interest in Hannover 96 goalie Ron-Robert Zieler

Speaking in an interview as quoted by Liverpool Echo, Hannover 96 boss Stefan Leitl has offered a positive spin on Liverpool’s interest in veteran German shot-stopper Ron-Robert Zieler but claims that the player is likely to stay with him.

The 33-year-old goalie has been at Hannover 96 since 2021. Quite a journeyman during his football career, Zieler has played for a number of clubs in Germany and also has a short stint in England with Manchester United and Leicester City.

Jurgen Klopp is apparently looking to sign a backup shot-stopper to Alisson Becker for next season who can deputise for the Brazilian whenever he is unavailable through injury or suspension and be reliable between the sticks.

Right now, the Reds do have the talented Caoimhin Kelleher and veteran Adrian capable of playing the role between the sticks but the former is still very young and could move in search of regular game time and the latter might not be as reliable as once before.

Alisson though is expected to play almost all the matches for Liverpool if fit. Any player brought in IS going to strictly be restricted to a bench role with the odd appearance once in a while.

Considering all these factors, it is easy to understand why Liverpool wanted to sign the shot-stopper from Bundesliga 2. However, Leitl has chosen to put a positive spin on these exit rumours.

“He has played [himself] into focus. t’s a nice rumour to associate Hannover 96 with Liverpool. Ron is my captain”

Ron has played 15 times for Hannover 96 across all competitions this season, conceding 17 goals and keeping six clean sheets. He will be hoping to keep his performances at the same level and if anything, improve it

More Liverpool News

• Robbie Fowler talks about Trent Alexander-Arnold and his Scouse connect with Liverpool fans
• Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita suffers another injury after recently returning from a lay-off for a different issue
• Liverpool all set to offer a new contract to Roberto Firmino

Zieler seems to be a solid option for Liverpool to pursue, especially for a backup role. Let’s see how this goes and if the Reds indeed end up signing the German after all.