The German shot-stopper touched down in Istanbul on Saturday (Picture: Getty/Anadolu)

Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has questioned the club’s decision to allow Loris Karius to leave Anfield ahead of him, with both players desperate for game time.

Mignolet has made no secret of his desire to leave Liverpool to become the No.1 elsewhere, having been shunted down the pecking order to third choice following Alisson’s arrival from Roma this summer.

Although Karius ought to have been understudy to the Brazilian, and was in the squad for Liverpool’s Premier League opener, the German was permitted to join Besiktas on a two-year loan.

Mignolet feels he should have been allowed to leave before Karius (Picture: Getty)

The decision to allow Karius to leave has upset Mignolet, though, who has little desire to act merely as backup to Alisson this season.




‘I find it bizarre that Karius was loaned while I also had options to be loaned,’ the Belgian told Het Laatste Nieuws. ‘But for some reason that was not possible.

‘A goalkeeper who was preferred to me last year may leave on a loan basis. Strange.’

On his future at Liverpool, he continued: ‘The transfer of Karius doesn’t change anything for me. I have always been clear: I want to play.

Mignolet has little desire to play backup to Alisson all season (Picture: Getty)

‘Being number two or number three makes little difference. Playing minutes is the most important thing.

‘Nobody has said anything to me after the departure of Loris. So I don’t know what my future at Liverpool is. We will see what happens this week.’