New Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili is looking to make his mark for the most successful club in the history of English football.
Liverpool have made big moves in the summer transfer window, signing superstar attacker Florian Wirtz and right back Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen and bringing in left back Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth, but that trio aren’t the only new arrivals.
The defending Premier League champions also have a new goalkeeper in the mix, with Georgian star Giorgi Mamardashvili arriving from Valencia a year after the Reds agreed a £30M transfer and a season-long loan back to the Spanish club, and the 24-year-old is excited to begin the next phase of his career.
“Joining a club like Liverpool, it’s not only a transfer, it’s a dream come true,” Liverpool’s new goalkeeper said. “When I agreed last summer, I felt that something big was beginning in my life, but now I truly understand what it means to be Liverpool’s player.
“I am very proud to be the first Georgian player for Liverpool. My journey started in Georgia on the small pitches. I played first league three years and step by step I became part of the national team. At 20, I had the opportunity to go to Spain—new language, new culture, new people. The first year was really tough for me.
“Valencia played a really huge role in my life. I didn’t speak Spanish, didn’t speak English. But I quickly understood if I wanted to play, I had to learn, to adapt, I had to work on myself every single day. Now I’m here, the biggest club in Premier League history.”
A move from La Liga to the most successful club in the history of English football—a side that has Alisson Becker, aka the current best goalkeeper in the world, as established first choice between the sticks—does mean something of a demotion for Mamardashvili.
To start, the imposing Georgian stopper will be expected to deputize the position, getting game time in the domestic cups or if Alisson falls injured. He isn’t phased by the situation, though, vowing to put his head down, work hard for the team, and with time try to earn the starting job.
“When I was a child I always watched videos of goalkeepers,” Mamardashvili added. “I remember some Liverpool goalkeepers as well—Jerzy Dudek and then Pepe Reina and now Alisson Becker. Liverpool has a big goalkeeper legacy and I want to try to write my own chapter in this goalkeepers’ legacy.
“Ali, he’s one of the best goalkeepers in the world and I am so happy to work with him. Of course it will be a challenge, [but] I like challenges, I’m here to help the team. Everybody knows this club has big ambitions and I want to be part of such the journey.”