According to a report in the Echo this evening, Mark Hughes has said that £20 million wouldn’t be enough to convince Stoke to part with in-demand ‘keeper Jack Butland. The same article links both ourselves and Everton with the player.
Hughes’ comments came during his press conference ahead of Stoke’s League Cup quarter-final against Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday evening.
“Jack’s going nowhere,” said Hughes. “He’s progressing well but he’s very early into his career development as a number one keeper. People are aware of him – and they have been for a long time”.
“He needs a season-in-season-out of week-in-week-out in the Premier League”.
The former United striker didn’t put a price on Butland, but when the £20 million figure was put to him, he wasn’t impressed.
“Do I think that’s a fair value? No. We wouldn’t place a value on him anyway”, he responded.
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Mignolet won Klopp’s backing recently, but there remains a debate amongst fans over whether or not he had a long-term future at Anfield. Despite more confident performances in the last six months, the Belgian drew the ire of the supports when he was penalised for holding onto the ball for too long against Bordeaux in an incident which ultimate led to a goal for the visitors.
He was up to the same antics in the weekend win over Swansea, getting booked in the 93rd minute for time-wasting.
Would Klopp even want to sign Butland? We’re not so sure. There is no denying that he has a great future ahead of him, but at this stage in his career, would he represent a big enough upgrade on Mignolet to justify the vast transfer fees that are being discussed?
If Klopp does want a new ‘keeper, he’s probably more likely to look to Germany – a league that he knows well.