Karius Hints at Liverpool Exit, Klopp Targets Napoli Match for Alisson Debut

It’s been a tough couple of months for Liverpool ‘keeper Loris Karius; the German shot-stopper backstopped the Reds to the Champions League final, but a concussion suffered early in the second half saw the German make two vital mistakes as the Anfield outfit came up short to Real Madrid as the Spaniards claimed the trophy for the third time in a row.

Although he’s tried to put that all behind him, another embarrassing gaffe against Tranmere Rovers during Liverpool’s pre-season preparations only served to further calls for the 25-year old to be replaced — something the club has now done with the world record signing of Alisson Becker from AS Roma. The Reds have been decisive in the transfer market this summer and the addition of the Brazilian will have the punters queuing up for the moplay welcome bonus as they back the Merseysiders to challenge Manchester City for the Premier League title, but if his latest comments are to be believed, they may be doing that without Karius in tow.

“Of course, that’s not ideal for me, but at the moment I cannot say much more about that,” said the German when asked about the arrival of Alisson. “Nobody spoke to me beforehand,” added the ‘keeper, sounding genuinely surprised. “I do not know at the moment,” mused the former Mainz man when asked if he’ll be looking for a new club. “I cannot say what I’m doing right now, there’s still some time left.”

While there’s no question that drafting in Alisson was the right move at the right time for the Reds, allowing Karius to hit the road wouldn’t be in their best interest at all. Having allowed up and coming shot-stopper Danny Ward to join Leicester City last week, the club would have only veteran ‘keeper Simon Mignolet on the books as cover and the Belgian is understandably looking elsewhere for a chance to play some first team football. While there’s really no indication that the club will listen to offers for Karius, Reds boss Jurgen Klopp isn’t the kind of manager to make a player stick around when they don’t want to — and after another howler in the 3-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund yesterday, he German may want to leave Anfield for a fresh start.

Alisson, for his part, is not taking part in the Reds pre-season tour of North America, but the Brazilian is expected to feature when the club play their final friendlies before the start of the Premier League season when they take on Italian sides Napoli in Dublin and Torino at Anfield.

“Shaqiri will come the day after tomorrow directly to New Jersey and Alisson will come with Roberto Firmino and will be a part of the second camp in Evian,” explained the gaffer. “That’s good that we’ll have them all together, apart from the semi-finalists of the World Cup.”