Stoke City and Xherdan Shaqiri was a curious fit when the Swiss swapped Inter Milan for the Potteries in 2015, but for three seasons, he operated as the club’s talisman, adding some style to the steel that boss Mark Hughes and his predecessor Tony Pulis had installed at the club.
But even Shaqiri’s individual brilliance was unable to prevent the Potters from dropping down to the Championship at the end of the 2017/18 season as their ten-year Premier League stay came to an end.
The Swiss was quickly handed the opportunity to remain in the English top flight however, as Liverpool triggered his £13.5million clause and he headed to Anfield to work under manager Jurgen Klopp.
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Shaqiri on his ‘amazing’ Liverpool feeling
“It was a big opportunity,” Shaqiri tells FourFourTwo when asked how the move came about. “I wanted to play at the highest level.
When we got relegated at Stoke, I had a clause in my contract that meant I could go for the same price I came for, so I went to Liverpool for a low price. Going to Liverpool meant a lot. Everyone knows how big they are.
“They’ve always been one of the biggest clubs in the world, and the fans are amazing. We won a lot of things there with Jurgen Klopp.”
Shaqiri would win the Premier League, Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup during his time with Liverpool, adding to his list of medals that included three Swiss titles and two Swiss Cups with Basel, plus three Bundesliga titles, two German Cups, another Champions League and another Club World Cup during his time at Bayern Munich.
The 125-time Swiss international also had plenty of individual high points during his time on Merseyside, not least the brace he scored in a 3-1 win over Manchester United at Anfield in December 2018.
“It felt amazing to score in a derby like that,” Shaqiri recalls. “Scoring against Everton was also special. If you score in those games, the people love you and you’re a legend already!
“I loved scoring in front of the Kop. Liverpool’s fans are a big family and they support the club like crazy. I loved how passionate they were and how strong the team was in front of the fans.”
Shaqiri would end his three-year Liverpool stint with eight goals in 63 appearances before moving to French side Lyon in August 2021 in a €6million move.
After struggling for playing time at the Ligue 1 side, Shaqiri moved stateside as he joined MLS side Chicago Fire as a Designated Player, but he would again fail to hit the heights of his earlier career, leaving by mutual consent in August 2024.
Now 33, Shaqiri is back where it all began at Basel and has the team well-placed at the top of the table ahead of the run-in as they look to win their first title since 2017.
