The Belgium international has joined the club for a fee believed to be in the region of €9.4 million, and is the Reds’ fourth signing of a busy summer transfer window

Liverpool have completed the signing of Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet on a long-term deal, the club have confirmed.

The 25-year-old shot-stopper made 101 appearances in three years for the Black Cats, but has swapped Wearside for Merseyside after penning a “long-term contract” following a successful medical at Melwood.

As reported by Goal, the Belgium international is part of a €50 million transfer splurge by Liverpool, with the club also chasing Henrikh Mkhitaryan following the successful signings of Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto.

Mignolet was one of Sunderland’s star performers in a largely unspectacular season for the club, and Reds boss Brendan Rodgers believes the club have acquired a “huge talent”.

“I am delighted that we have been able to sign one of the top goalkeepers in the Barclays Premier League,” Rodgers told the club’s official website.

“Simon will join a club that will give him an opportunity to demonstrate and improve his huge talent.”

The signing of Mignolet will add further fuel to the speculation linking current Liverpool No.1 Pepe Reina with a move away from Anfield, but Rodgers has previously insisted the Belgian has been bought to provide competition for the Spaniard.

Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio was sad to loose the young goalkeeper, and thanked Mignolet for his contribution to the Black Cats’ survival bid last season.

“Simon is a fantastic footballer, a fantastic professional and a fantastic lad and I would like to personally thank him for his contribution to the team last season,” the Italian head coach told the club’s official website.

“He was crucial to what we achieved and he goes with the very best wishes of everyone at the club.”

The Merseyside club continue to explore the possibility of expanding their existing stadium as part of a €305 million regeneration of the city fronted by the council

Liverpool are hopeful of moving ahead with plans to redevelop Anfield as part of a €305 million regeneration of the city.

A consortium backed by the club and fronted by the city council has asked local residents and businesses for their views on the plans, which outline the Merseyside outfit’s preference to expand on their existing stadium.

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre is pleased progress is being made, but insisted the club would only push for expansion with the backing of the local area and after a series of feasibility studies.

“We are looking forward to working with the partnership and playing a part in the development of the regeneration vision and we strongly encourage local residents, businesses and community groups to get involved in the process and have their say,” Ayre told the club’s official website.

“This is also an important milestone as we seek to investigate the feasibility of expanding our stadium. We will continue this work, which is just one part of the wider Anfield vision, and there is a great deal of work still to be done to bring those plans to fruition.

“We have always said that any stadium expansion will be subject to detailed economic and social feasibility studies and the community and home owners’ support, which includes our ability to purchase the land for the proposed expansion.

“Any expansion is also subject to the club being able to navigate the planning landscape and we are pleased to say that very positive progress is being made.”

The Liverpool managing director hails his manager’s transfer dealings as ‘fantastic’ after Spanish striker is unveiled as the Merseysiders’ third signing of the summer

And Ayre insists efforts will continue to further improve the options available to Rodgers this summer.

“It’s fantastic, the third signing of the summer and very early in the window,”  he told the club’s official website.

“He’s a great talent, one that Brendan identified a long time ago.

“The scouting network and everybody else have done a lot of hard work to get him here and I’m pleased that we’ve been able to get his signature and have him in the squad.

“There’s a lot of work going on, there’s certainly no shortage of that. Hopefully we’ll have some more success.”