Liverpool’s 2025-26 season was filled with countless disappointments. Amongst them were the emergence of doubts as to whether Giorgi Mamardashvili was ready to take over from Alisson Becker, with the 25-year-old Georgian struggling to match Alisson’s level when given the chance to step in thanks to injuries.
Liverpool paid £30M to sign Mamardashvili from Valencia in 2024 and agreed to leave him with the Spanish club for a season to help get the deal done such were they confident the Georgian international was the best option to replace Alisson Becker in the longer term. Skills on the ball were always a concern, though.
While a goalkeeper’s first job is stopping shots, it’s incredibly important for top level goalkeepers to be able to nearly play as outfield players, especially for top sides expecting to dominate possession and build from the back. Those concerns, though, were always countered by the fact Mamardashvili was an elite shot stopper.
This past season for Liverpool, though, when called into action for long stretches a to Alisson suffered a string of injuries, those weaknesses on the ball clearly hurt the side. Now, it appears Alisson may be staying for at least one more season on Merseyside. And that makes Liverpool’s goalkeeping situation very complicated.
It also means rumour mongers in Italy are now talking up a Mamardashvili loan where before the chatter had been about Alisson joining Juventus. That club are also being linked now to Mamardashvili while Fiorentina and Inter Milan are also said to be in the mix, with the Reds claimed to be actively offering him on loan.
For Liverpool meanwhile there are now new questions to be answered. If Mamardashvili now isn’t the future, surely a loan for a year to Serie A won’t change that. And in both the long and short term there is now a need to answer questions about Alisson, both on the successor front and due to his concerning injury record.
Alisson Becker remains one of the best goalkeepers in the world when fit, and last season proved Liverpool remain better with him in the lineup. Yet he’s now 33 and has to be expected to miss at least a month or two of next season due to injuries. If Mamardashvili isn’t the answer, the Reds need to figure out who is.