Liverpool FC: 4 Possible Goalkeeping Replacements If Pepe Reina Leaves

He was hailed as the best goalkeeper in Europe by Rafael Benitez when Pepe Reina was signed for Liverpool from Villareal in 2005.

Already considered to be one of the greats by many Liverpool fans, he has averaged over 15 clean sheets per season since his arrival. 

He has been one of the major reasons for Liverpool having such a great defensive record over the last five years. 

He is the one of the last and certainly the most important survivor of the Spanish revolution of Rafael Benitez, with the youngsters Pacheco and Suso being the others. 

With all the happiness in the Liverpool camp, one must not forget that there are still issues to be resolved at the club.

There were offers for Reina in the summer, but Purslow decided to tie him along with Torres to new long-term offers. With the departure of Torres, who was one of his closest friends, speculation is ripe that he may also leave in the summer. 

Though, the Liverpool fans including me would like him to stay, the club has started looking for replacements to avoid another Torres kind of situation.

In a recent interview, he admitted that the departure of players like Alonso, Mascherano and Torres has had an impact on him and also that he would like to play Champions League football. 

With the recent signings and resurgence under Kenny Dalglish, the Liverpool fans would expect that Reina would be happy enough and would decide to stay.

However, with rumors of a £20 million buy-out clause and teams like Arsenal and Manchester United in dire need of goalkeeping reinforcements, it may be time to look at possible replacements

Hugo Lloris

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LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 01: Hugo Lloris of Lyon in action during the Emirates Cup match between AC Milan and Lyon at Emirates Stadium on August 1, 2010 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Current Club : Lyon

Expected Price : £12-15m

Age : 24 Years

Lloris started his career in his hometown club of Nice and made a switch to Lyon in 2008, the same year he graduated to the senior national team as well.

Since then, he has become the first choice keeper for both Lyon as well as the French national team. In his first year at Lyon he was named the goalkeeper of the year in the French league and also named in the league's team of the year.

He played an important role in Lyon's Champions league campaign of 2009-10, and gave his most impressive performance in Lyon's win over Liverpool. 

He was placed third in the voting for French footballer of the year and was also nominated for the Goalkeeper of the year by UEFA.

Though, he has publically claimed that he is focused on his job at Lyon, interest from clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United might be too hard to resist for this highly rated glove-man.

Manuel Neuer

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BLOEMFONTEIN, SOUTH AFRICA - JUNE 27: Manuel Neuer of Germany in action during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Round of Sixteen match between Germany and England at Free State Stadium on June 27, 2010 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. (Photo by Clive M

Current Club : Schalke

Expected Price : £12m

Age : 24 Years

Neuer has risen through the ranks at Schalke, where he joined as a five-year old in 1991. Progressing though all the age-group teams, he graduated to the first team in 2005 and has been the first-choice goalkeeper for Schalke since 2007.

Though he was the third choice goal-keeper for the German national team, the tragic death of Robert Enke and the injury to Rene Adler gave Neuer the opportunity to become the first-choice goalkeeper for the German national team.

Though, Neuer is considered to have been marked as the replacement for Van der Saar, any possible sale of Reina would give Liverpool the funds to compete with any team for the signing of this goal-keeper.

Schalke though are also interested in retaining the services of the player. With only one year to run on his contract with Schalke, Schalke would need to provide Neuer with a really good offer to retain him amidst interest from clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool and Bayern Munich.

Maarten Stekelenburg

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AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - NOVEMBER 23: Maarten Stekelenburg of Ajax show his frustrations during the UEFA Champions League Group G match between AFC Ajax and Real Madrid at the Ajax Arena on November 23, 2010 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Photo by Laurence

Current Club : Ajax

Expected Price : £14m

Age : 28 Years

Stekelenburg has been at Ajax since the age of 15. He has made over 180 appearances for Ajax in the last 9 years and was named the Ajax player of the year in 2007-08.

He has been a part of the Netherlands national side since 2004, but did not get a chance to start too many games till Van der Saar retired recently.

Ironically, he is also one of the goalkeepers shortlisted by Sir Alex Ferguson to replace the Dutch glove-man at Old Trafford. 

With Arsenal also facing goalkeeping issues, they are also considering the Dutch international as one of the possible solutions.

However, with Liverpool having done business with Ajax recently and Ajax facing financial difficulties, Liverpool might just swoop in at the last moment for the goal-keeper.

Paul Robinson

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BLACKBURN, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 02: Paul Robinson of Blackburn Rovers in action during the Barclays Premier League match between Blackburn Rovers and Tottenham Hotspur at Ewood Park on February 2, 2011 in Blackburn, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/G

Current Club : Blackburn Rovers

Expected Price : £7-10m

Age : 31 Years

The Blackburn goalkeeper has seen a resurgence in form since his £3.5m move from Tottenham Hotspurs in 2008.

He had been highly rated while at Leeds from 1998 to 2004 before a move to Spurs in 2004. He has also made over 40 appearances for the England national team.

However, in 2006 he made a howler in a game against Croatia where he missed a back-pass from Gary Neville to let in an own goal to put Croatia 2-0 up. Again in 2007, he again let in a soft goal against Germany. 

These mistakes seemed to have an effect on his confidence and his form for the Spurs dropped as well. 

But in the last two years, he has been at the center of impressive defensive showings by Blackburn.

The major advantage of such a signing would be the Premier League experience that Robinson would bring as well as Champions League experience he has while his time at Leeds.

Though Liverpool fans would not easily forget his past mistakes and would hope that in case he comes to Anfield, he brings is Blackburn form to Liverpool rather than his past form.

Conclusion

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LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 06: Fernando Torres of Chelsea shakes hands with former team mate Pepe Reina of Liverpool prior to the Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on February 6, 2011 in London, England. (Pho

Liverpool fans would like to have Pepe Reina than have to look in the transfer market for his replacements. 

Kenny Dalglish would not want to have a player in the squad who does not want to be there. As has been said many time before, no player is bigger than the club. 

Hence, it was probably right to let Torres leave and if Reina has the same feelings, it might be time to let him leave as well. 

No doubt, it would be a loss for the Reds, but not one which they would struggle to recover from.

Bill Shankly had done the same over 50 years ago and built a new team. Maybe its time for Kenny Dalglish to achieve something similar.

Though its still too early to jump to conclusions, among the candidates, Robinson does look the most likely.

Among the other likely replacements, Manchester United might just have the say over who Liverpool cannot go for as they could offer the players Champions League football in the near future. However, all the other three candidates are good goal-keepers in their own right and Liverpool might not mind having any one of them if Reina does leave.