Having been rejected by Martin Zubimendi in recent days, Liverpool now appear to be closing in on a possible swoop for Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Fabrizio Romano noted on Wednesday morning that the Reds have ‘agreed personal terms’ with the goalkeeper, who’s ‘keen’ on a possible move to Anfield but is also open to ‘spending one or two years elsewhere on loan’.
There had been claims from Spanish outlet Deportes Cope Valencia that LFC could agree a permanent deal for the 23-year-old now and loan him back to his current club Valencia until such time that Alisson Becker departs.
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However, according to Graeme Bailey for HITC, Liverpool are keen to get the Georgia international signed as soon as possible and arrange a temporary move elsewhere, although their preference would seemingly be that he joins another Premier League side rather than returning straight to the Mestalla.
To that effect, Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth are among the English top-flight clubs to have been approached by intermediaries to enquire about a possible interest in Mamardashvili.
From Liverpool’s perspective, it’s quite understandable that they’d like Mamardashvili to obtain some valuable experience of the Premier League before he’s ready to take the reins from Alisson.
A season spent at a fellow English top-flight club would enable the Reds to ascertain just how readily the 23-year-old would take to the division, provided that he starts regularly for whichever team may sign him on loan.
He’s already proven an ability to perform on the big stage with his excellent displays for Georgia at Euro 2024, and if that brilliance can be extrapolated over a consistent period in England, we could be about to land another top-class guardian to go alongside the Brazilian and Caoimhin Kelleher.
The one downside to the pursuit of Mamardashvili is that it effectively confirms that the Irishman isn’t seen as the long-term successor to Alisson, which’ll duly make it even more likely that he’ll seek to move on to somewhere that his talents are appreciated in the form of regular game-time.
We can only hope that Liverpool’s judgement will ultimately prove correct, and seeing the Georgian having the bulk of a full season at another Premier League club before he nails down the number one spot at Anfield could be the ideal scenario.
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