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Toward the tail end of last summer’s transfer window, Manchester City’s former number one Joe Hart was being strongly linked to Liverpool after his ouster at the hands of Pep Guardiola. Considering Liverpool’s goalkeeping struggles under Simon Mignolet and the untimely injury to incoming and unproven Loris Karius, these rumors didn’t seem that far-fetched.
Fast-forward to today, and it seems that we may be living through a Mignolaissance. The Belgian ‘keeper has had a string of strong performances to not just win his job back from Karius, but to come up with some huge, game-saving moments along the way, most recently in the last two wins against Stoke and West Brom.
So, considering Mignolet’s decent season so far, the on-going Joe-Hart-to-Liverpool transfer saga seems a bit strange. And according to ESPN, an unnamed source at the club called this rumor “completely fictitious.” Well. OK, then.
Or is it? A fair few number of outlets have declared that Liverpool are preparing a £20 million bid for Manchester City’s unwanted ‘keeper. Though, upon closer scrutiny, those rumors appear to be fabricated by the (for lack of a better word) newspaper that shall not be named.
Considering the sources of the conflicting reports, and just general common sense, it seems that Liverpool will not be making a move for Hart this summer. Mignolet might still not be the long-term solution (nor might Karius, for that matter), but finding the right fit between the sticks is not as high a priority heading into this summer as it was last.