Liverpool may have moved a significant step closer to securing a deal for Giorgi Mamardashvili thanks to the input of a fellow Premier League club.
In an overnight update on X from Spanish journalist Hector Gomez, it was revealed that ‘negotiations are progressing’ in regards to a move for the Valencia goalkeeper.
Although it’s a permanent transfer to Anfield which is being discussed, the plan is for the 23-year-old to firstly join Bournemouth on loan, and the Cherries will pay the value set by the Reds for his temporary switch to the Vitality Stadium.
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In doing so, the south coast club will enable Liverpool to reach the fee of €35m (£30m) plus €5m (£4.3m) in bonuses that Los Ches were demanding, with LFC’s initial offer only hitting the £30m mark after bonuses were included.
Gomez added that the deal is ‘close’ to completion but ‘not closed yet’, and that Mamardashvili ‘wants to leave now and gain experience in the Premier League’ so that he’ll be ready to eventually take over from Alisson Becker at Anfield.
🔴 Avanza la negociación para el traspaso de Mamardashvili al @LFC que primero iría cedido a @afcbournemouth
🔑💰 Bournemouth pagará por la cesión y completará la cantidad que Liverpool no llega a fijo de 35 + 5 bonus, ponía algo más 30 fijos y bonus hasta 35. Están cerca pero… pic.twitter.com/5BDyuL7dW9
— Héctor Gómez (@Generaldepie_) August 15, 2024
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With Premier League rules prohibiting clubs from signing a player and then loaning him to another team in the division in the same transfer window, Mamardashvili would join Bournemouth directly on loan from Valencia, with Liverpool instead agreeing a right to buy rather than signing him formally this summer (Football Espana).
The proposal outlined by Gomez would duly be to the benefit of the two English sides involved, with the Cherries getting immediate access to the goalkeeper and the Reds effectively clinching his permanent signature partly thanks to the added financial input from the Vitality Stadium.
The Georgian’s reported eagerness to leave the Mestalla for England as soon as possible should also help to get the deal done, although some LFC fans might remain a tad sceptical in that regard after being burned by the demise of Martin Zubimendi’s proposed transfer to Anfield earlier this week.
It nonetheless looks increasingly as if Mamardashvili will be a Liverpool player in the foreseeable future, albeit that attention may turn to what happens with Alisson and Caoimhin Kelleher. The latter now seems quite likely to move on, in the knowledge that someone else is coming in to block his pathway to regular game-time in L4.
While it can legitimately be argued that other positions in Arne Slot’s squad are in much greater need of attention in the final fortnight of the transfer window, it’d still be welcome to see a player of the Valencia goalkeeper’s talent being brought in, especially when the summer has been so dismally quiet on that front.
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Brilliant….well played reds.
We’ve needed another starting centre-back and, more importantly, a defensive midfielder for several years so we’ve gone and prioritised a goalkeeper for the future.
What are they smoking at Anfield?!