Liverpool invested in their goalkeeping succession plan during the summer by signing Giorgi Mamardashvili a season in advance, and the No. 1 role is already on his mind.
The Reds landed Mamardashvili from Valencia in a deal worth £29 million, but he will not move to Anfield until next summer.
Caoimhin Kelleher has already taken the hint and voiced a desire to assess his options next year, while Alisson embraced the signing as a “good idea.”
The Brazilian has been linked to Saudi Arabia more times than we care to remember, but he recently insisted that “I want to honour my contract and finish my contract here or make a new one.”
But Alisson, who is contracted until 2026 and has an option for a further year, has been told to brace for competition by the incoming Mamardashvili.
“I was attracted by Liverpool’s project when the club’s representatives met me to sign me,” the ‘keeper told Georgian television’s First Channel, via El Desmarque.
“I will fight for the starting goalkeeper position, even if the current goalkeeper does not leave the team.”
It is fair to say, however, that it will not be as easy to displace Alisson as it is to say. He is a world-class goalkeeper who does not get the wider recognition he deserves.
If we take his injury history into account, though, there will be a clear opening for the Georgian goalkeeper to make a statement as Alisson has missed games due to injury or illness in five of the last six seasons.
Mamardashvili, who is studying English and following the Premier League, has over 200 appearances at club and international level combined, and he is still only 24.
He has an incredibly high ceiling and evidently plenty of ambition, which he cannot be faulted for as you do not want a player who is happy to sit idle and watch on from the bench.
Arne Slot said as much when Kelleher voiced his ambitions earlier in the season, saying: “I’d be really worried if a player comes out saying, ‘I don’t care about playing first-team football, I like it so much on the bench and I want to stay there for the rest of my life’.
“As long as they accept their situation, not accepting it in a way that ‘I don’t care I’m not playing’, but accepting it by helping the team whenever they have to, then it is a good place to be in.”
There’s no quiet confidence with Mamardashvili, and he is sure to earn plenty of fans because of it.
