This is very disappointing, if respectable journalist Matt Law’s claims in the Telegraph are correct.
He claims that Pep Guardiola, the man taking charge of Manchester City next term, has already encouraged his future club to sign Barcelona stopper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen – and that the Sky Blues are ‘on the verge of clinching an agreement’.
Liverpool have been credited with heavy interest in Ter Stegen, the potentially world-class German stopper currently backing up Claudio Bravo at Camp Nou.
As a result, both us and City felt he was an attainable target, but it seems our Premier League rivals have beaten us to his signature.
We’ve Simon Mignolet as no.1, but countless mistakes this term surely proves he needs replacing, even if the Belgian signed a five year extension earlier this campaign.
Interestingly, Joe Hart will now surely become available as he won’t be content with sitting on anyone’s bench – even Guardiola’s.
He’d be a significant improvement on Mignolet, and at just 28-years-old, still has a number of top years ahead of him. Let’s hope Hart can be the silver lining if we do miss out on Ter Stegen.