Leicester City have completed the signing of Liverpool custodian Danny Ward for a fee of £12.5m. The deal also includes a 20% sell on clause if the Foxes sell him in future. Ever since Liverpool signed Alisson Becker from AS Roma for a record fee, a keeper was expected to depart the club and Jurgen Klopp has allowed the Welsh international to leave.
Ward has penned a four-year deal at the club and he could be the first choice custodian come the new season as regular no. 1 Kasper Schmeichel is being linked with a move to Chelsea as they prepare for Thibaut Courtois’ departure.
The 25-year-old has been with the Reds since 2012, however, he has failed to break into the first team and has spent quite a few seasons on loan away from the club, most notably with Huddersfield Town where he helped David Wagner’s side to secure a promotion to the Premier League.
Claude Puel seemed delighted with his new signing and said,”Danny will give us even more competition in the squad, which is crucial for us ahead of what will be another very competitive Premier League campaign.”
However, from the inside, he will be hoping that he will be able to hold on to Schmeichel especially after his heroic display for his country at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Though, if a heavyweight club like Chelsea comes calling, it will be tough for the player and club to ignore the offer.
Before the signing of Becker, there were rumours that Klopp will give Danny Ward a shot as the first choice goalkeeper after Loris Karius continued his shambolic display in the preseason. Though, the German manager didn’t want to leave anything to chance in the upcoming season as he had no hesitation in paying a world record fee for a goalkeeper.
In his close to 6 years stint at the Merseyside club, Ward made just 3 senior team appearances for the Reds. Given that fact, Liverpool will be happy that they manage to extort over £12m for their goalkeeper. The player also seemed satisfied with the move and said, “I’ve come here to develop my all-round game and hopefully help deliver some more success.”
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This has been Leicester’s fourth signing of the summer as they have earlier signed Ricardo Pereira, Jonny Evans and James Maddison. Ward will be a solid no.2 to have, however, it’s early to say as there is still quite some time left in the transfer window and maybe Ward will have to take up the mantle of the no.1 spot. He might have been untested in the Premier league but has done exceedingly well in the limited opportunities he has got during his various loan spells.
