What the Ruddy hell is going on with Liverpool’s keeper pursuit?
Published:
Liverpool’s nosedive from grace is multifaceted, but having been dropped for a mammoth game at Manchester United it’s clear Simon Mignolet’s days between the Anfield sticks are numbered.
The calamitous Belgian keeper finally paid the price for an error-strewn campaign thus far, as reserve stopper Brad Jones replaced him at Old Trafford.
However, three goals sailed past the Aussie confirming the widely-held belief Jones won’t cut the mustard either, leaving the door flapping in the wind where a new Liverpool number one is concerned.
The Reds have been linked with a string of high-profile Mignolet replacements during this tumultuous season, including Spanish heavyweights Victor Valdes and Iker Casillas.
Chelsea’s Petr Cech has also been in the frame in recent months, but it is perhaps symptomatic of the club’s tumbling fortunes that Norwich keeper John Ruddy now leads the pack.
Ruddy, a talented stopper, is currently plying his trade in the Championship and with the greatest of respect to the England international, his is not a signature to appease the disgruntled Kop faifthful.
Having dropped through the Premier League trapdoor at Carrow Road last May, no big teams went after the former Cambridge United man and that speaks volumes.
As a direct result Ruddy has dropped right out of the England picture, where Fraser Forster and Ben Foster have cemented back-up status to Joe Hart.
If rumours are to be believed, the 28-year-old would cost around £8m too, only two million less than the ill-fated Mignolet cost in the summer of 2013, when Pepe Reina was shipped out on loan to make way.
Now only afforded an 11/2 chance of reaching the top four this season, Liverpool fans will be shaking their heads in disbelief if more big money is spent on another keeper of sub world class standard.
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