Giorgi Mamardashvili has admitted his form has dropped for Valencia this season, with the one-time Champions League regular now embroiled in a relegation scrap.
Saturday’s 2-1 win over bottom-place Real Valladolid saw Valencia move a point clear of the relegation places with 11 games remaining this season. Mamardashvili’s personal form hasn’t helped the side, with the goalkeeper conceding four more goals than his expected goals.
Mamardashvili, seen as one of the world’s best young stoppers, signed for Liverpool last summer and is expected to challenge Alisson for the No. 1 jersey when he finally joins the team ahead of the 2025/26 campaign. But it seems unlikely there will be a major shift in that department soon in a week where Liverpool’s incumbent keeper was hailed as the best in the world by Arne Slot and Virgil van Dijk, while by Mamardashvili ’s own admission he is not performing at his best.
Writing on social media after the Valladolid win, the 24-year-old said: “I know I’m not in my best moment now, but I’m convinced that challenges make us stronger. I’m putting in my best effort to be the best version of me as soon as possible.
“Thank you very much, Mestalla, for the support! Today’s victory is very important to us and fills us with energy to continue. I know I’m not in the best shape right now, but I’m sure that difficulties will make me stronger. Putting in all my effort to get back to the best shape I can.”
Slot was asked about Mamardashvili in Friday’s press conference and hinted that the new arrival will have a tough job forcing his way into the Liverpool team when he eventually arrives.
“He is at Valencia and they are in just as important a phase of the season as we are in, so it wouldn’t be smart for me to talk about a player that maybe belongs to us but is in such an important part of the season at Valencia,” the Liverpool boss said on Friday.
“But in general I can say if you want to play for Liverpool, you have to accept that there is competition. That is not only Liverpool but that is in every Premier League club at the moment because of all the money that is in this league but in Liverpool if you don’t want to face competition then it is not the best place to go to.”
