Brendan Rodgers: 'Pepe Reina will have to compete with Simon Mignolet for spot'

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has revealed that goalkeeper Pepe Reina will have competition from incoming signing Simon Mignolet next season.

The Belgian shot-stopper is expected to complete a reported £9m switch from Sunderland to Anfield in the coming days.

While it had been suggested that Reina was poised to return to Barcelona, the Spaniard has insisted that he has no intention of leaving the Merseyside outfit just yet.

"Pepe Reina and I went out for a meal a couple of months before the end of the season and I told him exactly what we were going to do, which was to provide real competition in that area," the Liverpool Echo quotes Rodgers as saying.

"He was fully aware of my intention over the course of the last few months. It certainly wouldn't be a surprise to Pepe. Pepe is a fantastic goalkeeper but Simon Mignolet is a player that has done really well."

Reina has been a Liverpool player since 2005.