Liverpool sign Adrian as replacement for departed Mignolet
Liverpool have completed the signing of former West Ham goalkeeper Adrian following the departure of Simon Mignolet.
The 32-year-old Spaniard was available on a free transfer and Jurgen Klopp moved quickly to bring him in after Mignolet’s £8.2 million ($10m) switch to Club Brugge was completed on Sunday.
Adrian’s contract expired after six years at West Ham this summer, having previously spent the majority of his career in La Liga with Real Betis.
He has signed an initial two-year contract at Anfield, with the option of extending for a further year.
“I’m feeling really happy; really happy to be here and to work in this great club and start doing my stuff on the pitch as soon as possible,” he told Liverpoolfc.com.
“I’m very ambitious, I come here to try to win everything, to try to push Ali from the first minute and to make us better.
“Obviously I want to win titles. I come here to fight for all the competitions. We have many competitions ahead – we’re going to fight for it and try to get them.
“I’m looking forward to playing my first game at Anfield and to win as many games as we can.”
Adrian first joined West Ham in 2013, while the club was under the management of Sam Allardyce.
He established himself as the Hammers’ first-choice goalkeeper during his first three years at the club, but found himself making more sporadic appearances in recent times as he shared the gloves with Lukasz Fabianski. In all, he made 150 appearances for the club.
Coincidentally, the now-departed Mignolet joined Liverpool six years ago, in the same window that Adrian moved to the Premier League.
His story was a similar one as he initially made the number one shirt his own before eventually giving way to first Loris Karius and then Alisson.
He has returned to his native Belgium on a five-year deal at Brugge. His final act in a Liverpool shirt was to watch from the bench as his side were beaten by Manchester Cityin the Community Shield, before jetting off to complete the move immediately after.
