Players - Simon Mignolet

Simon Mignolet
Birthdate: 6 March 1988
Birthplace: Sint-Truiden, Belgium
Other clubs: Sint-Truiden (2004-19), Sunderland (2010-13), Club Brugge (2019-)
Signed from: Sunderland
Signed for LFC: £9m, 25.06.2013
International debut: 25.03.2011 vs. Austria
International caps: 35 (9 at LFC) - 14.06.2022
Liverpool debut: 17.08.2013
Last appearance: 07.01.2019
Contract expiry: 05.08.2019
Win ratio: 51.96% W:106 D:51 L:47
Honours: Champions League 2019
Total games/goals opposite LFC: 6 / 0
League games / goals / assists: 155 / 0 / 0
Total games / goals / assists: 204 / 0 / 0
League clean sheets: 51
Total clean sheets: 66

Player Profile

Although in no hurry to see Pepe Reina depart. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers acted quickly to cover the possibility of his Spanish goalkeeper leaving the club by signing the Sunderland ‘keeper Simon Mignolet in the final week of June, 2013. There hadn’t been enough competition for Reina in recent years with his main understudy, the Australian Brad Jones, actually being five months older than him. With Reina due to reach his thirty-first birthday soon after the start of the 2013/14 season and Mignolet not twenty-six until three-quarters of the way through that season, the signing of the Belgian international made perfect sense with the bonus that he is already very familiar with what the Premier League has to offer, having played in nearly 80% of Sunderland’s League fixtures in the previous three seasons.

Mignolet was born and grew up in the city of Sint-Truiden, joined his local club when he was in his mid-teens and progressed so rapidly that he became first-team goalkeeper shortly after his eighteenth birthday. Sint-Truiden were promoted as Second Division champions in 2009 and finished in a commendable fifth position after the regular season a year later with the twenty-two-year old being named Belgian Goalkeeper of the Year. He had also added a goal scored to his impressive resume. In April 2009 Sint-Truiden were cruising to victory over Ronse when, in the 88th minute, a spot kick was awarded and Mignolet stepped forward seeking to seal a 5-1 rout. His penalty was saved, but Mignolet scored from the rebound.

With clubs in Holland and Italy showing serious interest, it was clear that a smaller provincial club had little chance of keeping one of its brightest stars. Ultimately it was English club Sunderland who signed Mignolet on a five-year deal in the middle of June, 2010. At the time of his arrival Scotsman Craig Gordon was the ‘sitting tenant’ in Sunderland’s goal but he was trying to recover from a serious injury, a recovery delayed so much that the new arrival played in 23 of Sunderland’s thirty-eight Premier League matches in 2010/11. Gordon was still struggling with injuries during the following season but the Belgian comfortably saw off his main competitor, Keiren Westwood, who had arrived from Coventry City; and he really consolidated his position in 2012/13 by appearing in all but three of Sunderland’s competitive matches, Westwood being selected for the three League Cup-ties in the first half of the season. Sunderland finished the 2012/13 season in seventeenth position, one place and three points clear of the third relegated club, Wigan Athletic. Mignolet conceded fifty-four goals as an ever-present in the Premier League plus four in two FA Cup-ties. 

Mignolet played every minute of Liverpool's 38 Premier League matches in 2013/14, excelling on his debut by saving a late penalty-kick from Stoke City's Jonathan Walters to preserve his team's slender 1-0 lead. He also played in both League Cup-ties but Brad Jones was selected ahead of him for the three FA Cup-ties. Fifty league goals conceded was not a good statistic though although in fairness the goalkeeper could not be directly to blame for many of them. It took time for him to gain the trust of the defenders in front of him and that probably applied in reverse as well. On the whole a satisfactory first season as a Liverpool player, who can still improve, especially the communication with his defenders and his domination of the penalty area. Mignolet is a unique player in the sense he boasts a degree in Political science, studying 20th century socialism while building his professional football career. He is also a multilinguist and is fluent in Flemish, Dutch, German, French, and English.

Although Mignolet started and finished the 2014/15 season as Liverpool's first-choice goalkeeper his form fluctuated during the season, so much so that after the club had been knocked out of the Champions League early in December his manager Brendan Rodgers announced that he would be left out of the team "for an indefinite period". But only four matches later his replacement, Brad Jones, had to leave the field early during the Boxing Day fixture at Burnley.The Belgian then started in the remaining thirty-one matches of the season to take his total of appearances for the club close to the century mark. Mignolet remained Liverpool's number one for 2015-16 although Adam Bodgan was never expected to push him too hard for a place. He saved two penalties in the shoot-out against Stoke City to take the Reds into the League Cup final and signed a new five year deal in January 2016. In Euro 2016 he was in the Belgian squad but didn't feature in any games and returned to pre season knowing he faced a challenge to be number one keeper after the arrival of Loris Karius. The German's broken hand sustained in a friendly with Chelsea on 27th July though meant Mignolet was sure to start the season as first choice. Halfway through the season Klopp announced that Karius would be first choice in all competitions, having initially brought him in for European games. Mignolet was Belgium's back up keeper at the World Cup and Mignolet was widely expected to leave following the signing of Allison Becker. However with Karius loaned to Besiktas, Mignolet remained when the August transfer window closed. 

During 2018/19 Mignolet showed his professionalism, not once complaining about his lack of game time, which was limited to two domestic cup appearances. He accepted he was behind an exceptional talent and could only learn from Alisson, but also had the trust of the manager should he be needed The two developed a good professional relationship and Mignolet was still included in the Belgium squad for the World Cup qualifiers at the end of the season. Mignolet moved to his homeland to Club Brugge on 5 August 2019 after six eventful years at Liverpool. He was a title winner in his first season, which as cut short due to the Covid 19 pandemic with his club declared champions owing to their fifteen point lead at the top. Further titles followed in 2021 and 2022. Mignolet was included in the Belgian squad for the 2022 World Cup but didn't make an appearance. He announced his retirement from international football the following year.
Appearances per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 155 12 12 25 0 204
2013-2014 38 0 2 0 0 40
2014-2015 36 7 3 8 0 54
2015-2016 34 3 3 15 0 55
2016-2017 28 0 3 0 0 31
2017-2018 19 1 0 2 0 22
2018-2019 0 1 1 0 0 2
2019-2020 0 0 0 0 0 0
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
12 1110 Chelsea
11 1020 Stoke City
10 930 Manchester City
10 930 West Ham United
10 900 Tottenham
10 900 Manchester United
9 810 Everton
9 810 Crystal Palace
8 720 Arsenal
8 720 Southampton
7 630 Newcastle United
7 630 Sunderland
7 630 Aston Villa
7 630 Swansea City
7 630 Leicester City
7 630 WBA
6 524 Burnley
5 450 Hull City
4 360 Norwich City
3 300 Middlesbrough
3 270 Watford
3 270 Bournemouth
2 210 Besiktas
2 180 Hoffenheim
2 180 Ludogorets
2 180 Real Madrid
2 180 Rubin
2 180 Bolton Wanderers
2 180 QPR
2 180 Fulham
2 180 Borussia Dortmund
2 180 Basel
2 180 Sion
2 180 Augsburg
2 180 Bordeaux
2 180 Villarreal
2 180 Cardiff City
2 180 Blackburn Rovers
1 120 Notts County
1 90 Burton Albion
1 90 AFC Wimbledon
1 90 Leeds United
1 90 Brighton & Hove Albion
1 90 Huddersfield Town
1 90 Sevilla
1 90 Exeter City
1 90 Wolves
Total Started/substitutions
203 Started
109 On the bench
1 Substitute
0 Substituted
Total Venue
103 Home
101 Away
Total Competition
155 Premier League
17 Europa League
12 FA Cup
12 League Cup
8 Champions League
Total W D L Win % Manager
104 55 23 26 52.9% Brendan Rodgers
100 51 28 21 51% Jürgen Klopp
Clean sheets per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 51 5 3 7 0 66
2013-2014 10 0 0 0 0 10
2014-2015 14 3 0 1 0 18
2015-2016 11 2 1 6 0 20
2016-2017 9 0 2 0 0 11
2017-2018 7 0 0 0 0 7
2018-2019 0 0 0 0 0 0
2019-2020 0 0 0 0 0 0
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 17.08.2013 Stoke City Anfield League
50 04.10.2014 WBA Anfield League
100 17.09.2015 Bordeaux Stade Atlantique Europe
150 14.08.2016 Arsenal Emirates Stadium League
200 26.12.2017 Swansea City Anfield League
Related Articles
Simon Mignolet's troubles come to an end

The Daily Mail on 14 February 2015.

Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
Sint-Truiden 2006-2007 1st Division Belgium 19 0 19 0
Sint-Truiden 2007-2008 1st Division Belgium 24 0 25 0
Sint-Truiden 2008-2009 2nd Division Belgium 29 1 31 1
Sint-Truiden 2009-2010 1st Division Belgium 28 0 30 0
Sunderland 2010-2011 Premier League 23 0 26 0
Sunderland 2011-2012 Premier League 29 0 35 0
Sunderland 2012-2013 Premier League 38 0 40 0
Club Brugge 2019-2020 Belgium 1 27 0 43 0
Club Brugge 2020-2021 Belgium 1 38 0 47 0
Club Brugge 2021-2022 Belgium 1 39 0 49 0
Club Brugge 2022-2023 Belgium 1 40 0 51 0
Total 334 1 396 1