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Liverpool bid to sign Simon Mignolet as a replacement for Pepe Reina
LIVERPOOL will bid for Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet as uncertainty grows over the future of Pepe Reina.
Mignolet impressed last season with a number of outstanding perfomances and is eager to leave the Stadium of Light this summer in search of European football.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has made the Belgian international his top target after current no.1 Pepe Reina confirmed today he would leave the club this summer if an offer is made by Barcelona.
Reina told a national newspaper: "I have a contract at Liverpool and I feel valued there. They only reason I would plan to move elsewhere is if there was interest in me from Barcelona."
The Catalan giants are hoping to sanction the move for Reina with the sale of Victor Valdes to big spending French club Monaco.
And Rodgers, a long-term admirer of Mignolet, is now readying a £7million bid to lure the 25-year-old to Anfield.
The goalkeeper's agent Nico Vaesen said: "It is very unlikely he will sign a new contract [at Sunderland].
"Simon has obviously come to a point where he wants to step up a level and there is a lot of interest in him. He is very ambitious and wants to play in the World Cup in Brazil next year.
"It was a good thing that Sunderland stayed up and it is a fantastic club where he has had three great years. But it is maybe time to step up a level and play for a club competiting for a European spot."