Jurgen Klopp: Why Liverpool handed Simon Mignolet new contract

Jurgen Klopp says Simon Mignolet is the perfect goalkeeper for Liverpool.

The Belgium international put pen to paper on new five-year deal on Monday evening to keep the shot stopper at Anfield until 2021.

We thought about in and in the end the result was that we are sure we want to work together with him for the next years

Jurgen Klopp

Mignolet has been under pressure this season after a number of high-profile errors in the 2015/16 season so far, with Liverpool boasting the worst record from corners in the league.

Liverpool have been linked with a move for Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu in recent weeks.

However, Klopp, who replaced Brendan Rodgers in October, is confident that Mignolet still has time to blossom into an even better goalkeeper.

“There have been a lot of games since I’ve been here and Simon, as is normal for a goalkeeper, was involved in one or the other goals we’ve conceded,” Klopp told his pre-match media conference ahead of Wednesday’s FA Cup game against Exeter City.

“We’ve thought about it all and in the end it is the package [and] Simon Mignolet is for us perfect because he is a smart guy, young enough to develop in the things he has to develop and he gives us all, the whole team, a good feeling when he is in the starting line-up, so that is really important.

“We thought about in and in the end the result was that we are sure we want to work together with him for the next years, that’s why we offered him a new contract.

“He took it and now he is Liverpool FC player for the next few years. Hopefully I can think about the next contract too with him, then we would have had success.

“So that’s all – I am really satisfied with this position and now we can go on.”

Mignolet moved to Liverpool in a £9m deal from Sunderland under Klopp’s predecessor, Brendan Rodgers.

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The Reds are in ninth place in the Premier League table and eight points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur after conceding 28 goals in 22 top-flight games so far this season.