According to sources in Italy, since picked up and amplified by the usual suspects amongst the English tabloids, Liverpool have enquired into the availability of Inter Milan’s veteran Slovenian goalkeeper Samir Handanovic and have been encouraged by Inter’s response.
The 32-year-old has been a steady presence at the San Siro since arriving there in 2012 from Udinese in a €15M deal, and while Inter aren’t looking to sell, Corriere dello Sport claim they also wouldn’t be against it if the right offer came along.
However, it’s often best to treat rumours out of Italy with extreme skepticism, and so far all the talk in England has amounted to tabloids regurgitating Corriere dello Sport. Mignolet has clearly struggled the last few weeks, and many are grasping for the first likely candidate to replace him.
They’re largely overlooking the fact that Liverpool already have the man that Jürgen Klopp identified to be Mignolet’s replacement in Loris Karius. And while Karius has also struggled this season, he remains young and highly promising.
The German goalkeeper, still only 23 years of age, rated out the second best stopper in the Bundesliga last season before moving to Liverpool for a bargain fee when the Reds triggered his release clause. He as struggled to adjust to the English game so far, but he remains a top talent.
A veteran like Handanovic might be seen as a stop-gap solution while Karius continues to develop, but if a stop-gap was desired the time to bring him in would have been in January—not this summer, when Karius will have had a full year to adjust and settle.
Based on Karius play in Germany, and on his youth and promise, it’s not hard to see why Klopp identified him as Liverpool’s goalkeeper of the future. A difficult start at Anfield doesn’t fundamentally change that, and as such Handanovic would make for an odd and unlikely summer signing.