Giorgi Mamardashvili wants to be Liverpool’s No 1 – so what does Arne Slot do with his goalkeepers?

Giorgi Mamardashvili is not a goalkeeper who lacks self-confidence.

When the Georgian attended the Ballon d’Or ceremony last year, he did so believing that, one day, he will walk away with an award. No goalkeeper has won the Ballon d’Or since 1963, when Lev Yashin, the Soviet Union international who remains a gold standard for goalkeepers, claimed the prize.

Mamardashvili, the goalkeeper signed by Liverpool for £29million last summer before being loaned back to Valencia, wants to change that. The fact that a 24-year-old, whose current team are labouring in La Liga’s relegation zone, harbours such ambitions offers an insight into his rock-solid mindset.

Then again, it would not be the first time that Mamardashvili has defied convention. He is a rare example of a high-profile, expensive goalkeeper moving to a top club without the guarantee of a starting place.

Liverpool pushed through the signing because they considered it an opportunity too good to turn down, with Valencia’s money troubles playing a part in the cut price-deal of £25m plus £4m in add-ons. Background checks were completed before the 2024 European Championship and the move accelerated after Mamardashvili starred for Georgia at the tournament. Liverpool’s sporting director, Richard Hughes, was particularly influential in pushing it forward when he arrived at the club and first-choice goalkeeper, Alisson, was also consulted.

Plans to send Mamardashvili on loan involved discussions with a number of clubs — including Premier League rivals Bournemouth — but a collective decision was made for him to stay at Valencia for another year.

It is unusual for a star-performing stopper to leave a club fighting against relegation for such a large transfer fee. Only eight other goalkeepers have moved for more money and most of them switched between elite-level clubs — Thibaut Courtois swapped Chelsea for Real Madrid in 2018, Kepa left Atletico Madrid for Chelsea in 2018 and Andre Onana moved from Inter Milan to Manchester United in 2023. Alisson, the goalkeeper Mamardashvili will soon be competing with, left Roma, who were Champions League semi-finalists in his last season, to join Liverpool in 2018.

Valencia, however, are a faded force — certainly compared with their halcyon days of the early 2000s, when they won La Liga twice and were regulars in the Champions League, reaching the final in back-to-back seasons. This term, however, has been a struggle. They have languished in the relegation places for most of the campaign and, while the arrival of new manager, Carlos Corberan, from West Bromwich Albion has given the team a fighting chance of survival — he has picked up 12 points from his first nine league games in charge — there is no guarantee Valencia will avoid a first relegation since 1986.

Mamardashvili has a deep connection with Valencia having signed as a relatively unknown prospect from Georgian side Dinamo Tbilisi three and a half years ago after catching the eye of scouts during a loan spell at Locomotive Tbilisi in the Europa League. He has bonded with the club’s fans and is desperate to bow out on a relative high.

At Valencia, Mamardashvili is not cited as one of the reasons for the club’s slide into trouble. There has been the odd error, including one in the 7-1 thrashing by Barcelona in January, but no more than goalkeepers would ordinarily endure. The fact that only bottom-placed Valladolid have conceded more than Valencia’s 44 goals is attributed more to the quality of the defensive work in front of him rather than Mamardashvili, who helped his side rank fourth in La Liga for clean sheets last season despite finishing in ninth place.

Other statistics that may seem concerning for Liverpool fans also require context. A 63 per cent passing accuracy appears underwhelming, but 44 per cent of his 600 passes have ended up in the opposition half, with 16 per cent of the total ending in the final third.

Mamardashvili is encouraged to kick long at Valencia (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Mamardashvili is taking a far greater risk with the distance covered compared with other goalkeepers who use short passes to start the build-up. Take Alisson’s passing accuracy of 81 per cent, for example: just 20 per cent of his passes have ended up in the opposition half, with only seven per cent making it to the final third. When Caoimhin Kelleher has played in the Premier league, just 29 per cent of his kicks have gone long. When Mamardashvili arrives at Anfield, he can expect to receive similar instructions from Slot.

Helping Valencia fight off relegation is Mamardashvili’s immediate focus and his form will be vital in the run-in. It is no secret, however, that he also has one eye on his next chapter on Merseyside.

Regardless of what happens in Spain, Mamardashvili is scheduled to link up with his parent club for pre-season training and then push for a starting place. Soon after the move was confirmed in August, he started taking English lessons and has recently been looking at living arrangements in the UK. Liverpool also check in regularly and have monitored every game he’s played in.

The outlook at Anfield is intriguing because they already have two ready-made No 1 goalkeepers at the club in Alisson and Kelleher, as well as Vitezslav Jaros, a highly rated third-choice goalkeeper who has featured for the first team this season.

Mamardashvili does not see himself as anything other than a No 1 and, while he is fully respectful of Alisson, he signed for Liverpool with the intention of playing, not sitting on the bench.

Footage after Barcelona’s win over Valencia last month showed the striker Ferran Torres asking Mamardashvili why he didn’t move to Liverpool last summer. His reply was simply: “Alisson.”

Yet with the Brazilian still in fine form and under contract for at least another two years, there appears to be no immediate need for Slot to make a change in goal. How Liverpool handle the decision-making process over the summer is going to be key because clearly there is not enough room for every goalkeeper. Arne Slot has been consistent in his message that Alisson is the No 1 for now and Kelleher, who is out of contract next summer, is yet to extend his deal, which points towards a potential exit.

Liverpool will know it is likely to be the last window where they can make a big sale before losing the Irishman for nothing in 2026, and after the contract issues with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk this year, they will not want that to happen.

Although Mamardashvili was signed with one eye on the future, he has shown for both club and country that he is ready now.

In an interview with The Athletic in August, David Webb, the assistant coach of Georgia, spoke about his professionalism, work ethic and stand-out talent. “Moving to Liverpool will help him kick on and he’ll probably go on to be one of the top three or four goalkeepers in the world,” Webb said.

Liverpool first started tracking Mamardashvili seriously at the start of 2023 but, while they immediately liked his shot-stopping qualities, there were reservations around his kicking.

This is the area he has worked on the most in recent years. During the loan spell at Locomotive, when he was still only 19, the coach Giorgi Chiabrishvili encouraged him to “never kick it long” and that helped build confidence. Specific distribution training at Valencia followed and those working with him have noticed a steady improvement.

Slot has not discussed the plans for Mamardashvili publicly as his focus is on getting the best out of the players already at his disposal. He explained last week that Liverpool’s lack of activity in his first two transfer windows was down to an agreement to assess the current squad and then rebuild in the future.

Mamardashvili played a key role for Georgia at Euro 2024 (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Mamardashvili was a rare exception to the rule and will soon be swapping a Spanish relegation battle for another demanding environment where the expectation is to win every match — particularly, as seems likely, Liverpool begin next season as reigning Premier League champions.

He will not be fazed by such pressure. Having finished seventh in last year’s Yashin Trophy — which recognises the best goalkeepers in the world and was most recently won by Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez — he wants to top that list in the future to position himself for a tilt at the Ballon d’Or.

Keeping Valencia up would be a good start to fulfilling that ambition. But it is what happens next at Liverpool that will shape his future.

(Top photo: Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images)

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