Reports: Fee Agreed For 'Keeper

Numerous reports have emerged today claiming a deal has been agreed for Simon Mignolet to open talks with Liverpool over a potential transfer.

The fee is as good as we could get for him if what is being reported is true. Somewhere around the £9m mark with a further £3m which could be netted from add-ons, taking things up to a hefty £12m.

Now then, don't get me wrong, Mignolet is an exceptional 'keeper. One of the best in the Premier League for my money, but speaking of that what's being offered really is too good to turn down as it seems having two years left on a contract is the new having one year left.

His value is undoubtedly at the peak it will ever be while he is a Sunderland player, and quite possibly the highest it will ever be in his career, and even without the add-ons it represents a £7m profit on a player who quite clearly has his heart set on a move.

Whether or not it's a good move for him personally is subjective. Personally I think it will be a disaster for him, but we wish him the best of luck as personal terms and a medical shouldn't be too much of an issue.

With Pepe Reina claiming he wants to stay at the club he could find himself with a little more competition than he would have hoped, but of course he'll be more in the public eye, which is what he seems to care about most and attracting the interest of Marc Wilmots, the Belgian national team manager.

Sooner or later Mignolet will realise the the reason he isn't in the Belgian team is because quite simply he isn't as good as Thibault Courtois, but that's for him to learn and us to exploit and earn a fee from.

He's made his bed, we can make our peace with it. Anything between £9-12m is a great fee to get for a goalkeeper and it makes perfect sense for Ellis Short and the rest of the gang to cash in now and go get some players who can improve other areas of the team.

Midfield seems to be the top target with a reportedly upped bid for Alfred Duncan, while the latest name mentioned appears to be Abdi Ibrahim of Manchester City along with his fellow reserve, John Guidetti, who's name has once again popped up in the morning's press.

The fee is good, he wants to go, we've already got a replacement in Keiren Westwood, he owes us nothing -- almost single handedly keeping us up -- and we owe him nothing -- making him the household name he is.

The stars are pretty much aligned for this to go through in the next day or two.