Liverpool may have signed Giorgi Mamardashvili last summer, but now another international shot-stopper has claimed that he himself opted not to move to the club as their first-choice target in that position.
Mamardashvili set to move to Liverpool this summer
Alisson remains the Reds’ undisputed first-choice goalkeeper currently, and at 32 years of age, there is no reason why his peak should end any time soon.
That said, Liverpool still have to plan for the long-term future between sticks, and Mamardashvili is seemingly coming in as his eventual successor at Anfield.
The 24-year-old signed for the Reds last summer, following a hugely impressive Euro 2024 campaign with Georgia, but he is spending this season with Valencia, prior to officially joining the Merseysiders ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.
That could spell the end for Caoimhin Kelleher at Liverpool, with the Republic of Ireland international such an able deputy to Alisson, but now surely at a point in his career where he needs to be No.1 somewhere. He is good enough to star for another Premier League team, so it will be interesting to see where he goes, assuming he does leave.
Lopes claims he turned down move to Liverpool
Speaking to Foot Mercato [via Sport Witness], Nantes goalkeeper Anthony Lopes says he turned down the chance to join Liverpool from Lyon last summer before the Mamardashvili agreement, admitting he may have said yes later in the transfer window.
“Did I say no to becoming Liverpool’s number two? Yes, in June, I said no. I’ll be very clear: I didn’t have that option in mind at all. I told myself that I had to keep playing, that I had fire in my legs, and that I couldn’t put my bum on the bench, even if it was at Liverpool, Bayern, or elsewhere.
“But I’ll be very clear: if this offer had come at the end of August, just before the end of the transfer window, I would have accepted it, I would have left, I would have put my bum on the bench, and I would have shut my mouth.”
Lopes could have been a shrewd addition by Liverpool in 2024, with the Nantes ace possessing a wealth of experience at the top level, making 489 appearances for Lyon during his time at Ligue 1 giants.
He is also a 14-cap Portugal international, and was part of the squad that won Euro 2016, so it is easy to see why the Reds looked at him as a good option.
At 34 years of age, however, Lopes is two years Alisson’s senior, so he wouldn’t have been considered a long-term successor to him, making Mamardashvili the better choice to come in.
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It’s rare that a player turns down the chance to play for a club of Liverpool’s stature, though, and with all due respect to Nantes, there may be a part of him that sometimes wonders if he made the right decision.
