The Reds struck a deal with the Spanish club to sign Mamardashvili last summer. It was agreed that the 24-year-old would stay at Valencia for the 2024-25 season before moving to Anfield in July 2025 for a fee that could reach £29 million.
Liverpool took the opportunity to sign one of Europe’s top upcoming keepers despite Alisson Becker being established as No.1 and having Caoimhin Kelleher as back-up. But after Mamardashvili was highly impressive for Georgia at Euro 2024, coupled with his outstanding 2023-24 campaign at Valencia, it’s why the Reds decided to act.
However, this campaign has not been straightforward for the former Dinamo Tbilisi stopper. Valencia find themselves in a La Liga relegation scrap and sit 18th in the table. Yesterday, they were held to a 3-3 draw against Osasuna. Los Che boss Coberan was asked about the display of Mamardashvili and replied (via Super Deporte): "I don't like to publicly evaluate the individual performance of each player, but I do it privately. We compensate for any subpar performances with a lot of work."
Spanish media verdict
In a separate article, Super Deporte claimed that Mamardashvili is ‘who is a shadow of the one from a year ago’. Meanwhile, AS Diario issued a similar verdict and that Mamardashvili could have done better with could have done more with two of Osasuna’s goals. It said: “Mamardashvili has not been a miracle-working goalkeeper for some time now. He has become mundane. In Aimar's two goals he gave the impression that the Mamardashvili of old would have done more and in Budimir's penalty he dived to the side where the Croatian almost never takes them.
“Sooner or later a debate will open, and if it hasn't already, it's because of the respect earned by the Georgian and because Dimitrievski didn't have his day against Barcelona in the Cup either. But the debate will open if Mamardashvili continues like this. Quite the opposite of Sadiq, who has won his.” In addition, Marca gave Mamardasvhili just a one-star player rating.
What has Mamardasvhili said
Mamardashvili did not join Liverpool last summer because he would have been behind Alisson in the pecking order - and therefore stayed at Valencia to continue playing regular football.
Alisson is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Since his £67 million arrival from AS Roma in 2018, he has helped the Reds win seven major trophies including the Champions League and Premier League. This term, Alisson is on track to claim a second league title at Anfield with Arne Slot’s side 13 points clear at the summit of the table.
He has one year left on his current contract, with the club holding an option of an extra 12 months. However, Mamardashvili has previously insisted he will fight to dislodge Alisson for a starting berth. He said: “I was attracted by the Liverpool project as soon as the club’s representatives met with me. I will fight for the starting goalkeeper role there, even if the current goalkeeper does not leave.”
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