Former Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has revealed that his new team Club Brugge wanted him back in January but the Reds refused to let him go.
The Belgium international called time on his six-year stint at Anfield this summer when he returned home to the Jupiler League, sealing a £6.4million switch.
However, Brugge initially made a move for him in the winter window but Liverpool did not want to leave number one choice Alisson without an experienced understudy having already loaned out Loris Karius to Besiktas and sold Danny Ward to Leicester City at the start of the campaign.
Kortrijk striker Ilombe Mboyo suggested that Mignolet – who has been joined in the division by returning compatriots Nacer Chadli and Kevin Mirallas – would not have come back to his native country had Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany not joined Anderlecht.
However, the 31-year-old revealed that Anfield chiefs would not sanction a sale earlier in the year when Brugge came calling.
Mignolet told Het Nieuwsblad – via Sport Witness : “That’s possible [Mboyo’s comments], although Bart Verhaeghe [Brugge president] called me last winter.
“It was non-negotiable for Liverpool then.
“However, with the return of so many Red Devils [Belgium national team players], I think that was set in motion by Kompany."
After playing over 200 games for Liverpool , Mignolet could have continued to earn big money in a back-up role with the Reds but decided on the eve of the season that he would pursue regular football elsewhere.
He said: “When I went on holiday with my wife, Club Brugge wasn’t even in my head as an option. While I was open to it.
“I am a born and raised Truienaar and still supporter of STVV. But if there used to be a team that I had a warm heart for, it was Club Brugge. From my childhood.
“After the pre-season, I returned with the idea: Now I am going to give everything here (Liverpool) and I get nothing in return.
“However, that was the easy option: seeing out remaining two years [of my contract] at Liverpool, making good money at a top European club and being a free agent the age of 33.
“But another two years on the bench, that wasn’t in me.
“I have been at the end of my patience for the past six or seven months.
“The minutes I have already enjoyed with Club Brugge, the qualification against Kiev and Linz, I have not felt that in the last two years.”
