Even at the time, last summer’s transfer business seemed a confusing display
The exclusive bringing-in of Georgian goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili raised more then a few eyebrows in the Liverpool fandom.
It’s not that Mamardashvili isn’t a good goalkeeper – far from it, as his displays at Euro 2024 showed – but that Liverpool already have a goalkeeper
All footballers are playing longer and longer into their careers now thanks to the wonder of sport science, and goalkeepers regularly played into their late-30’s even when the premium athlete diet was lager and cigarettes.
So future-planning against the 31-year old Alisson seemed to be a strange decision by Richard Hughes and co.
Over the course of this season this decision has started to cause some problems for Liverpool. Mamardashvili’s Valencia are having a horrendous campaign, sitting 18th and in the relegation zone at time of writing
Alisson, meanwhile, has just proven that his best-in-the-world status is still very much applicable with an astounding display against PSG in the Champions League on Wednesday night
And whilst a backup for next season is necessary – Caoimhin Kelleher being outspoken about his desire to go elsewhere and become a full-time starter – the £30m fee for Mamardashvili presents a problem for Liverpool.
READ MORE: Surprise! Liverpool star now expected to STAY
But head coach Arne Slot has now put on the record what his approach to the Georgian shot-stopper will be.
Slot warns Mamardashvili against taking Alisson’s job
“[Mamardashvili] is in just as important a phase of the season with Valencia as we are in so it wouldn’t be smart for me to talk about him,” Slot said when asked this week, as reported by The Guardian
But in general I can say that if you want to play for Liverpool, you have to accept there is competition. If you don’t want to face competition then Liverpool is not the best place to go to.”
It doesn’t take a genius to work out what Slot is saying here. He has no intention to let Alisson go anytime soon. His injuries may require necessary intervention by Mamardashvili, as well as the amount of games Liverpool will be playing, but the Georgian will have to be comfortable on the bench for significant stretches.
This shouldn’t be a surprise. Displacing Alisson is something arguably no goalkeeper in the world could have done at any point in the past seven years.
We’ll just have to hope both men can be kept happy, because it gives Liverpool one of the best goalkeeping rooms in the entire world