While Alisson is Liverpool’s undisputed No. 1 there is a confusion over the imminent arrival of Giorgi Mamardashvili, with Arne Slot explaining his outlook.
Alisson reinforced his position as the best goalkeeper in the world on Wednesday with a virtuoso display in Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain.
Meanwhile, £29 million signing Mamardashvili has endured a difficult campaign with Valencia, who he stayed with for the campaign ahead of a switch to Anfield in the summer.
The deal to bring the Georgia international to Liverpool has led many to question Alisson‘s long-term future, but few if any are hoping it spells an end to his time on Merseyside.
From Slot’s point of view – in his role as head coach, removed from transfer decisions – Mamardashvili’s arrival will not change Alisson‘s mindset, with the Brazilian thriving off the existing competition.
“Yes and no,” he said when asked if his No. 1 needed the challenge of a new goalkeeper joining to stay at his best.
“Because he has great competition with Caoimh Kelleher now as well.
“If that is what drives him, then maybe it helps him to have such a good No. 2 behind him. But I don’t think he needs that.
“He is a top professional, like all the others. They know what it means to wear this shirt. You have to bring in top performances, otherwise you can’t play for this club.
“You always know, if you are here – if you’re a midfielder, attacker, defender or the goalkeeper – if you don’t do well there’s someone else that can do the job for you.
“If it’s not Caoimhin, we also have Vit Jaros, who is a very, very, very talented goalkeeper as well.
“So goalkeeper-wise, we are in a good place.”
Mamardashvili, who only turned 24 in September, has built a reputation as a strong shot-stopper but there remain question marks over his ability as a sweeper.
There will be confidence within Liverpool’s hierarchy that he can at least develop into a world-class goalkeeper, however, regardless of an indifferent season at Valencia with only five clean sheets in 22 games in LaLiga.
Slot knows he already boasts an elite-level shot-stopper, as emphasised by Alisson‘s record-breaking night in Paris.
“Saving shots! It’s probably one of the most important things a goalkeeper has to do,” he half-joked when asked what makes Alisson the best in the world.
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“No, I think to become the best goalkeeper in the world you sometimes need to make saves others wouldn’t make. I think he had one or two of them on Wednesday.
“In general it was a bit exaggerated, talking about 27 shots – he didn’t have to make 27 saves.
“But he had two world, world, world-class saves, in big moments for us, because if you go 1-0 down the game would have been even harder than it already was being 0-0.”
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