Veteran goalkeeper Alex Manninger signs contract with Liverpool

22 July 2016 11:23

Liverpool have completed the signing of goalkeeper Alex Manninger on a free transfer, subject to international clearance.

The 39-year-old former Arsenal keeper left Augsburg in the summer and Press Association Sport understands he has signed a one-year contract.

Manninger will provide back-up to Simon Mignolet and fellow new arrival Loris Karius, who arrived from German club Mainz.

"Honestly, it was a surprise," Manninger, who was already out with the squad on their tour of the United States, told liverpoolfc.com.

"After these years, in Italy and the last four years in Germany, I hadn't given up, I hadn't said 'That's it', I still waited for the phone call.

"When Liverpool were on the phone, it was a great pleasure for me to take it on because it gives me what I was looking for. This is the moment I was waiting for until the end.

"I've still got something left, for sure, but obviously it's probably not the time for me to push for the next three or four years to get a place in goal.

"Time says it's not possible to play 50 games a year but if I'm called up I'm definitely there for games, I will play.

"I'll definitely be in the changing room every game, giving my input; I hope, even if it's only a couple of per cent, it will do the rest."

Manninger, a former Austria international who also played for Fiorentina, Udinese and Juventus, had been training with Liverpool prior to him signing a contract.

Source: PA