Southampton keeper Alex McCarthy open to Liverpool move as Simon Mignolet granted exit wish

Wanted: McCarthy is attracting interest from Premier League clubs
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Alex McCarthy is open to entertaining long-standing Liverpool interest this summer should all the pieces for a switch to Anfield fall into place.

The Southampton goalkeeper is garnering interest from plenty of Premier League suitors after losing his starting place to Angus Gunn under Ralph Hasenhuttl, despite being crowned player of the season in the previous campaign.

McCarthy, who made his England debut against the USA in November, is happy on the south coast and his first priority remains to regain the No.1 spot at St. Mary's, with the club not keen on selling the former Reading man should they be able to move on third-choice Fraser Forster.

The Reds are believed to be among the interested clubs, having tracked the 29-year-old since before his move to the south coast from Crystal Palace in 2016.

Jurgen Klopp is in the market for a back-up goalkeeper this summer with Simon Mignolet set to be allowed to leave after appearing just twice last season following the record-breaking arrival of Alisson from AS Roma.

Sporting director Michael Edwards won’t stand in the way of the Belgian’s desire for regular first-team football should an offer matching the expectations he has set out to the player's representatives be tabled.

Standard Sport understands a number of clubs have already come forward with offers for the former Sunderland keeper.

Southampton, who signed Gunn from Manchester City last summer, are also keen to move at least one goalkeeper on this summer with McCarthy and Forster, the highest-paid player in their history, both still on the books.

Forster has played just one game in more than a year, a 3-0 defeat at West Ham in May, and is the preferred option to sell, though a deal is hard to come by given the 31-year-old's hefty £80,000-a-week salary.

A deal for McCarthy, who signed a new contract through until 2022 last June, now looks the far easier to secure.

McCarthy would become the seventh player since 2014 to make the move from St. Mary's to Liverpool should a deal be struck.

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