Liverpool keeper Loris Karius joins Besiktas on loan

Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius has joined Besiktas on a two-year loan.

Both squads announced the transaction on Saturday. Karius, 25, will spend the rest of the 2018 season and the entire 2019-20 season in Turkey's Super Lig.

Karius joined the Reds from Mainz in 2016. He has since made 49 appearances for Liverpool. He was on the bench during Liverpool's first Premier League bout of the season.

"Everybody at LFC wishes Loris the best of luck during his loan spell," Liverpool said in a news release.

"We said goodbye yesterday," Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp told reporters on Saturday, following a 1-0 win against Brighton. "He is really looking forward to it, so that's good. It's good for him, I really think."

"Loris is a fantastic goalkeeper at a very good goalkeeper age. A lot of people speak now about our improved defensive things and as good as Alisson was in the last three games, in most of the games when we were already really good in that he was not here. It was Loris in goal and he did a lot of good things. When I saw the Besiktas team, it's quite an experienced team they have there. They have a good chance to win the league in Turkey, that's cool."

"Now they have a really good goalkeeper. I'm really happy for him and he was very happy about the opportunity as well. All good. And we have Simon Mignolet here, a wonderful, perfect goalkeeper as well for us. That's the situation now. Plus, the two kids [Kamil Grabara and Caoimhin Kelleher] of course."

Besiktas battles Antalyaspor at 2:45 p.m. on Sunday in a Super Lig bout at Vodafone Park in Istanbul.