Giorgi Mamardashvili will be a Liverpool player next season, and he may well be already counting down the weeks until he moves to Merseyside.
The Reds signed the Georgia goalkeeper from Valencia last summer but he’s spending the 2024/25 campaign at the Mestalla, and he’s had a few moments to forget as his club battle to avoid relegation from LaLiga.
Sander Westerveld knows all about playing between the sticks at Anfield, and while our former number 1 was highly impressed by the 24-year-old at Euro 2024, his form since that debut tournament for his nation has been rather less convincing.
What has Westerveld said about Mamardashvili?
The Dutchman spoke to the Liverpool Echo on the weekend of his participation in the LFC Legends match, and he claimed that Mamardashvili’s performances have declined ever since he agreed his move to Merseyside last August.
Westerveld said: “I was very surprised when Liverpool bought Mamardashvili. I know this guy. I follow the Spanish league and I know how good he is. I said it on television in Holland after the Euros. I think he was the best goalkeeper at the Euros, so I know how good he is.
“I’m not worried but it’s a little bit strange that since the moment he signed for Liverpool, his level dropped in Spain, and there’s been criticism of him or maybe he will be dropped.”
Which version of Mamardashvili will Liverpool get?
Mamardashvili certainly put himself in the shop window with his performances at Euro 2024, famously making 11 saves in one match against Czechia as Georgia impressed by reaching the knockout stages.
However, his numbers at Valencia this season don’t make for encouraging reading, having conceded 40 league goals already (just one fewer than in the whole of 2023/24) and underperforming on his post-shot xG against by 4.4. Last term, that metric was a whopping 10.2 in his favour (FBref).
Furthermore, the 24-year-old was recently the subject of thinly-veiled criticism from his manager Carlos Corberan after a 3-3 draw against Osasuna, and he’ll have probably welcomed the international break to get away from the Mestalla and help Georgia comfortably retain their place in the second tier of the UEFA Nations League.
Mamardashvili has publicly vowed to push Alisson Becker for the starting slot at Liverpool, but if he’s to genuinely challenge our current number 1 for his place in the team next season, he’ll need to vastly improve on what he’s shown in LaLiga over the past few months.
Let’s hope that the move to Anfield will represent the fresh start that the Georgian seemingly needs, especially if – as seems increasingly likely – Caoimhin Kelleher is to be the fall guy and cut his ties with the Reds.
