It’s now confirmed that Adam Bogdan has agreed personal terms with Liverpool Football Club, and will join the club at the end of his Bolton contract on July 1st, this is to provide competition to Liverpool’s current first choice Simon Mignolet.
The majority of comments I have seen about this rumour is very negative, Liverpool fans see a Championship keeper coming to the club, on yet another free transfer, when there are other keepers rumoured to be moving this summer such as Petr Cech, Asmir Begovic and Iker Casillas, and are angry and frustrated, but do you know what? I like this transfer and I will explain why.
I have seen Bogdan a few times and has always impressed me, he is 27 years of age, so still young for a keeper, has played for Bolton since 2007, and played in the Premiership for them, he is an international player, and what I particularly like about him is he is vocal, confident keeper, he is nearly six foot five, and has a presence about him. There is no obvious weakness to his game, potentially his distribution could be worked on, and his height and wing span could be a massive asset with Liverpool’s well known weaknesses at set pieces. His shot stopping and reflexes are outstanding.
Bolton Wanderers had so much faith in him that at the age of 23, they believed enough in him to release Jussi Jaaskalainen, a club stalwart and an outstanding keeper, thus making Bogdan their first choice keeper. In the FA Cup last season, Bogdan was outstanding against Liverpool, making some great saves, and Liverpool have been monitoring him since. Last summer German club, Mainz made an offer of £1.3 million, but this was turned down.
Fans will say but he is a Championship player. My counter would be he is joining initially as second string as there is no doubt within Liverpool there is real faith that Simon Mignolet will be an outstanding Premiership keeper, and they want a keeper to keep him on his toes, so that being the case, Liverpool were never going to be in the market for a Cech or a Begovic even if either were ever interested. Bogdan will understand his initial role within Liverpool, as for him being a Championship player, so was Jagielka, so was Lescott and Danny Ings another recent Liverpool signing, Aaron Cresswell was at Ipswich, West Ham bought him and now Manchester City are linked, with a fee of excess of £15 million, and talk of him being in the England squad shortly, so buying in the Championship can work.
I am going to make a prediction, new signing Adam Bogdan will surprise many fans with his ability, he is the best back up we will have had in a number of years, better than Itanje (so am I mind), Padelli, Doni and Jones. And I am predicting he will take the goalkeepers shirt off Simon Mignolet before the end of next season.
Fans don’t be blurred by Adam Bogdan not being a player from a so called big team or from a league below us, this keeper is capable, very very capable.
Craig Muncey
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It’s a decent enough signing, but he won’t take Mignolet’s spot. Are you aware Bogdan was actually second choice at Bolton?
He was injured and and place taken by Lonergan. Do accept Lonergan kept place for a while and Bogdan form at time not great. However, when Neil Lennon given manager job at Bolton, then Bogdan was put back in as first choice. I seem to recall Mignolet being dropped last year for Brad Jones so can happen.