3 months ago
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Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images
Giorgi Mamardashvili is expected to complete his Liverpool transfer shortly but will remain at Valencia on loan for the coming season.
Liverpool are on the verge of completing their first senior signing of the summer transfer window today with 23-year-old Valencia and Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili set to undergo a medical on Merseyside before putting pen to paper on his contract.
Multiple reports have the player travelling to England to put the finishing touches on the transfer, which will see the Reds pay a €30M base fee plus €5M in add-ons for Euro 2024’s standout shot stopper before returning him to Valencia on loan for the 2024-25 season.
What happens after that remains something of a mystery for those watching on from outside the club, with Liverpool number one Alisson Becker under contract through 2027 and recently reaffirming he has no intentions to exit the club in the foreseeable future.
Regardless, for the fee involved and the player’s qualities mean it’s hard to argue the signing of Mamardashvili doesn’t represent value. Many, though, will see more pressing areas of need than a goalkeeper, especially one who will remain in Spain for a year.
There are also some concerns about Mamardashvili’s comfort on the ball. As strong as a shot stopper as he is and as good as his command of the box is—both aspects of the game he is currently a near-peer of Alisson at—his on the ball play is decidedly below average.
Given Liverpool’s demands of the goalkeeper—demands that are likely to if anything rather tick up under Arne Slot—that’s a legitimate deficiency to Mamardashvili’s game and one that spending another season at Valencia seems unlikely to do much to improve.
