Alisson Becker has revealed that he knew about Liverpool’s interest in Giorgi Mamardashvili before it entered the public domain.
The Reds are seeking to bring in the Valencia goalkeeper as the Brazilian’s long-term successor at Anfield, a plan which has received a firm thumbs-up from the current holder of the Reds’ number 1 shirt.
In an interview with The Telegraph, the 31-year-old said: “The club needs to prepare for the future. We are not going to last forever here. I am getting old! No, for a goalkeeper I am still young, I have a lot of energy and I still have much to give for this club and I want to give to the club as much as I can, but they have to prepare for the future.
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“They have and they will do for different positions as well. We have so many important players with the contract expiring and the club needs to organise themselves.
“I think it was a good idea, I knew about [Mamardashvili] before it came out on social media and that is a good message for me because the club cares about what I think.
“They are doing the right thing in my point of view, but on my side, as long as I have my contract here and as long as I am happy here, the club is happy with me, my family is happy here, I will stay.”
Succession planning is crucial at any football club, particularly when a player has held down a crucial position to such a high standard for as long as Alisson has done at Liverpool.
It won’t be an easy task to follow in the Brazilian’s footsteps when the time eventually comes for him to depart, but Mamardashvili’s performances for club and country over the past year suggest that he’d be up to that challenge.
The 23-year-old hasn’t had the best of starts to the season, shipping five goals in Valencia’s two defeats thus far in LaLiga, although a tally of six saves across those matches suggests that the damage could’ve been even worse if it weren’t for his sizeable goalmouth presence.
Alisson has declared his intentions to at least see out the remainder of his Liverpool contract, which’d keep him here until 2027, so we can be thankful that we’ll still get to see plenty more of the Brazilian at Anfield.
It’s never easy to say goodbye to someone who serves the club for as long as he has, and who’s done so with such distinction, but at least having a ‘keeper of Mamardashvili’s quality waiting in the wings to take over would soften the blow.
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