Anything Alisson Becker can do, it seems Giorgi Mamardashvili can do just as well.
The Valencia goalkeeper will of course arrive at Liverpool in the summer, having had his transfer to the Reds completed last year, with the Georgia international remaining in Spain for a year before officially making the move to Merseyside.
Mamardashvili’s arrival will almost certainly see a shake-up in the goalkeeping department for Arne Slot’s team. Caoimhin Kelleher may well have played his last game for the club, with Alisson Becker’s back-up having already made his ambition to become a No.1 clear, while Vitezslav Jaros and Harvey Davies’ contracts expires in the summer, meaning one of the academy’s goalkeepers could be in line for an internal promotion.
There are also some questions over Alisson’s future, although the Brazilian has made his intentions to stay at Anfield clear. Whether he will face a fight for his No.1 spot from Mamardashvili remains to be seen, although the 24-year-old is already showing signs that he can step into Alisson’s boots.
It hasn’t quite been a season to remember for Mamardashvili domestically, with Valencia fighting a relegation battle in La Liga. Having spent much of the season in the bottom three, Los Ches are now a point clear of the drop zone, although there’s still plenty of work to do with 10 games remaining.
Mamardashvili has been able to put his club’s struggles to one side for the time being though as he’s linked up with his international teammates for their UEFA Nations League play-off against Armenia, with Georgia giving itself a healthy advantage in the first leg.
Learn more
Mamardashvili kept a clean sheet as Georgia ran out 3-0 winners, meaning it is well placed to keep its place in League B of the Nations League. Not only that, but the incoming Liverpool goalkeeper had a hand in one of his side’s goals.
In a sight Liverpool fans have become accustomed to, with Alisson providing Mohamed Salah with a few important goals over the years, Mamardashivili provided the assist for Georges Mikautadze to double Georgia’s lead, launching a long ball forward for the Lyon star to chase before supplying a superb finish from a tight angle.
More of the credit perhaps goes to Mikautadze, given he still had plenty of work to do after receiving the pass, but this isn’t the first time Mamardashvili has pulled off this trick. When we watched the goalkeeper in action against Ukraine a few months ago, he also provided Mikautadze with an opportunity on that occasion with a piece of quick-thinking even more akin to Alisson, only for his teammate to fire wide.
On that evidence then, Mamardashvili may well prove to be a ready-made replacement for Alisson – when he claims the No.1 spot at Liverpool remains to be seen though.
