Ex-Liverpool star revealed club ordered him to stop criticising player in the media

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Bruce Grobbelaar claimed that he was told to stop criticising Simon Mignolet during the Belgian's time at Liverpool . The Reds will face off against one of the goalkeeper's former teams in Sunderland , who he left in 2013 to head to Anfield.

Mignolet spent six years at Liverpool , making 204 appearances and keeping 66 clean sheets between the sticks. The Belgian international had positive spells during his time at Anfield, keeping the joint-most clean sheets in the 2013/14 season alongside Joe Hart and Fraser Forster .

However, there was one former Red who wasn't convinced by Mignolet. Ex-shotstopper Grobbelaar claimed he was once told by the club's hierarchy to stop criticising the 'keeper in public.

The Zimbabwe international, who spent 13 years with the Reds, said in 2015 that Mignolet was ready to be replaced. Grobbelaar said: "I’ve had my criticism of Mignolet for two or three years, I even got pulled in and asked not to criticise him so openly.

"But I think he [Klopp] is looking at it [buying a replacement for Mignolet].

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"There are a couple of goalkeepers in the German league that he is looking at so I can see that might be one of his first signings."

At the time, it was reported that then-Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was looking at Bernd Leno and Loris Karius. Both goalkeepers ended up in the Premier League , with Leno appearing for Arsenal and Fulham and Karius joining the Reds in 2016.

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Karius did try and replace Mignolet that season but the pair went on to share responsibilities until Alisson Becker arrived in 2018. He took over as the no. 1 choice and the Belgian moved to Club Brugge - where he still stars to this day.

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Grobbelaar was clearly not a big fan of the goalkeeper during his time with the Reds and even claimed that he saw better goalkeepers at Ottawa Fury, where he had been working as a coach at the time.

Speaking to talkSPORT, he added: "I’ve said that he is a goalkeeper who is a great shot stopper, but he is not the overall package. The overall package is good with your feet and coming out and commanding your area.

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