Simon Mignolet

After being invited for a training ground tour, Mignolet signed a five-year contract with English Premier League club Sunderland on 17 June 2010 in a deal worth £2 million. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] It was later confirmed by Sint-Truiden that Sunderland had beaten PSV , Twente and Udinese to secure Mignolet's signature. [ 8 ] Mignolet made his Sunderland debut in a 2–2 draw against Birmingham City on 15 August 2010, and was named man of the match for his performance. In the next home match, a 1–0 victory against Manchester City , Mignolet kept his first clean sheet for Sunderland, following an excellent reaction save to deny Emmanuel Adebayor a goal. Mignolet put in another fine performance against Arsenal , as Sunderland drew 1–1 after Darren Bent equalised in the 95th minute. However, Craig Gordon would replace Mignolet in goal several weeks later, and remained first-choice thereafter. Mignolet did not feature again until 8 January 2011, when Sunderland suffered a loss at home to Notts County in the third round of the FA Cup . Mignolet would become first-choice goalkeeper again after a knee injury to Gordon in February, and earned a string of rave reviews for his performances. [ citation needed ] Following the draw, Sunderland manager Steve Bruce hailed the young goalkeeper's fine start to life in English football. [ 9 ] Mignolet cemented his position as first-choice goalkeeper the following season, being preferred to new signing Keiren Westwood . [ 10 ] On 29 October 2011, Mignolet was injured during a 2–2 draw with Aston Villa , suffering a broken nose following a collision with Emile Heskey . [ 11 ] Mignolet played every single match of the following season , keeping a large number of clean sheets and producing several man of the match performances. [ 12 ] [ 13 ] His form prompted Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart to praise Mignolet in December 2012 as being the best goalkeeper in the league so far that season. [ citation needed ] On 21 June 2013, it was report — Wikipedia