3 months ago
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Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images
Giorgi Mamardashvili is now expected to stay at Valencia for the 2024-25 season rather than joining Bournemouth on loan.
Liverpool’s efforts to sign 23-year-old Valencia and Georgia rising star goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili which had appeared to have stalled over the weekend appear to have taken a significant step today and an agreement is now close.
That’s the latest from multiple sources in Spain, which suggest that rather than heading to Bournemouth on loan for the 2024-25 season the stopper will be loaned back to Valencia for the coming season before joining the Reds next summer.
Reports on potential cost point to a €30M fixed fee floor plus add-ons, which could see the deal end up around the €35M mark. Bournemouth were set to pay around €5M of that—and Valencia had recently signalled they wanted €5M more.
Now, of course, it will be Liverpool paying the entire fee. While as yet unreported, part of the reason for Mamardashvili having previously been set to join Bournemouth was because they could pay higher wages than Valencia can afford.
It seems likely, then, that Liverpool could also be expected to supplement the player’s wages this coming season at Valencia, subsidizing one more year for the imposing Georgian at the La Liga club in order to get the deal over the line.
While there have been concerns raised about Mamardashvili’s less than stellar distribution skills, when it comes to shot stopping and command of the penalty area the 23-year-old already rates out as a peer to Liverpool star Alisson Becker.
What this signing means for Alisson’s future, then, is anyone’s guess—though the consensus seems to be that Liverpool must expect him to want to move on from the club next summer in order to be closing on a deal for Mamardashvili now.
