Liverpool Transfer News: Steven Gerrard Comments on Return, Latest Reds Rumours

Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has revealed he will return to train alongside his former team-mates on Merseyside next week, but he has ruled out rejoining the club on a loan deal.

Gerrard’s new side, Los Angeles Galaxy, finished their Major League Soccer campaign last month. There were rumours the club’s former captain could return to the team on a temporary basis, per Simon Hughes of the Independent. During his appearance as a pundit on BT Sport, the veteran outlined the details of his jaunt back home.

“Next week, I'm going to go in for a couple of weeks and work with Mr Klopp so I'm really looking forward to that to see what he's about and try and learn a few things off him,” said Gerrard, per Liam Corless of the Daily Mirror. When asked by anchor Gary Lineker if he’d rejoin the club on loan, the 35-year-old’s response was a simple “no.”

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As we can see courtesy of Gerrard’s Instagram account, he’s still keeping a close eye on his former side, who dismantled Manchester City 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday:

Gerrard being around Melwood can’t be a bad thing for Klopp, who will also be seeking to learn a few things from the former skipper about the club. However, a non-playing return does make sense for both parties, given the direction in which the German coach is seeking to push this Reds team.

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In his younger days, a dynamic, tenacious Gerrard would have thrived in this Liverpool setup, which is geared towards an enterprising brand of football. However, in the twilight of his playing days, the ex-England international no longer possesses the requisite attributes for these tactics, making the benefits of a playing return, aside from sentimental ones, few in number.

Simon Mignolet Replacement Sought, Says Bruce Grobbelaar

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According to former Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar, Klopp is on the hunt for a new goalkeeper to replace Simon Mignolet,

The 58-year-old, who helped the Reds win six league titles and the 1984 European Cup, is now the goalkeeping coach for North American Soccer League outfit Ottawa Fury and also insisted there is a player in his current side who could do a better job than the Belgium international, per Jack Austin of talkSPORT:

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I’ve had my criticism of him for two or three years, I even got pulled in and asked not to criticise him so openly. I’ve said that he is a goalkeeper who is a great shot-stopper, but he is not the overall package. The overall package is good with your feet and coming out and commanding your area.

I’ve got a goalkeeper in Canada, a 24-year-old, who does this better than Mignolet does and is just as good of a shot-stopper. He is more of a package than Mignolet is. ...

I think he is looking at it [buying a replacement for Mignolet]. There are a couple of goalkeepers in the German league that he is looking at so I can see that might be one of his first signings.

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After a poor run of form in 2014-15, Mignolet was taken out of the firing line by former Reds boss Brendan Rodgers in favour of Brad Jones. However, the latter suffered an injury, prompting the former Sunderland man’s return and, although there are still flaws in his game, he’s played to a higher standard since.

As we can see here courtesy of WhoScored.com, there have been some major improvements made by the Reds stopper during this calendar year:

Ultimately, whether or not Liverpool feel Mignolet is good enough is dependant on their overall ambitions. If this is a team that wants to challenge for the Premier League title, then the 27-year-old perhaps doesn’t compare to the top goalkeepers in the division, but if they want to merely finish in the top-four spots, he’s just about sufficient.

The Belgian is certainly not the biggest concern in this squad and despite the aforementioned claims, it’d be a surprise if this area of the team is what Klopp addresses first. Nevertheless, if the Anfield outfit have ambitions of scaling similar heights to Grobbelaar and his former team-mates, an injection of quality will be needed in this position.