Latest news with #GiorgiMamardashvili
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Everton agree surprise Liverpool transfer
The goalkeeping department has seen a lot of movement at Liverpool this summer. It was an area that was always going to have a few changes. Caoimhin Kelleher had made it clear he wanted to be a first choice goalkeeper and so it was inevitable that he would move onto pastures new. With Giorgi Mamardashvili coming in, Liverpool had already secured his replacement. At the same time, unexpectedly Liverpool also secured the services of highly rated Hungary U21 international Armin Pecsi. The youngster is a Golden Boy nominee and already has over 50 appearances under his belt at senior level despite being only 20-years-old. In return, Vitezslav Jaros, has been sent out on loan to Ajax Amsterdam where he is expected to work alongside former Liverpool assistant coach, Johnny Heitinga. Harvey Davies has also gone out on loan to Crewe, which has seen Liverpool secure the services of highly experienced goalkeeper, Freddie Woodman on a free transfer. In the coaching department, the surprise departures of Fabian Otte and Claudio Taffarel were ones that came out of nowhere. In their place Xavi Valero, who previously worked at Liverpool under Rafa Benitez, and Colin Stewart has arrived from Rangers, having previously worked with Giovanni van Bronckhorst at the club, who is now one of Arne Slot's assistant coaches. While the loss of Otte and Taffarel are big ones, Valero is a renowned goalkeeping coach and Stewart has close to a decade of experience at Rangers, so Liverpool have brought in two very competent goalkeeper coaches. It's going to complement a really exciting goalkeeping pool at the club. As well as the aforementioned names, there are also high hopes for Kornel Misciur, who is an exciting young goalkeeper at the academy, and who caught the eye for the U21s last season. Meanwhile, DJ Bernard is another one to keep a close eye on, and he's expected to get his chance at U18 level this season. But there is one goalkeeper who will not be at the club anymore. Highly rated U15 stopper Ruben Savvas has made a shock move across Merseyside. The 14-year-old has joined Everton for a reported £200k according to LFC Next Gen on Instagram. Savvas has been called up to England's U15 side and was rated as one of the best up and coming talents in his age group at the club. It looks like Everton have managed to convince him to leave Liverpool in what is a major coup for the club's rivals. Savvas confirmed the move himself on his Instagram account, sharing the LFC Next Gen post to his story. The deal is pending Premier League approval but it's expected to be completed. Liverpool will hope they do not rue losing him to Everton in years to come, just like they once did with Anthony Gordon, who started out playing for the Reds' academy before switching to Everton.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
6 players set to make debuts in Liverpool's 2025/26 season
Liverpool claimed the 2024/25 Premier League title in Arne Slot's debut season as head coach. While they had a successful run in the league, the Reds fell short in their efforts in other competitions, including their elimination from the Round of 16 of the Champions League. Slot has brought in some new faces to Anfield this summer to further strengthen the squad and help their chances of bagging more silverware in the 2025/26 season. Liverpool have signed Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen, Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth, Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia, Armin Pecsi from Puskas AFC, and Freddie Woodman from Preston. The new signees, along with some academy players, are expected to make their debut for Liverpool in the upcoming 2025/26 campaign. Florian Wirtz Wirtz signed a five-year contract with Liverpool for a club record fee of £116m. His contract, valid until the summer of 2030, includes a guaranteed £100m and a further £16m in add-ons 📲 Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp The 22-year-old midfielder turned heads with his impressive performances for his boyhood club Bayer Leverkusen, recording 57 goals and 65 assists in 197 games. Wirtz is expected to make his competitive debut for Liverpool in their FA Community Shield final against Crystal Palace on August 10 at Wembley Stadium. Jeremie Frimpong Frimpong signed a five-year deal with Liverpool in May for a reported fee of €35m (£29.5m). The Dutch right-back's arrival at Anfield from Bayer Leverkusen came right after Trent Alexander-Arnold parted ways with Liverpool to join Real Madrid, making Frimpong a replacement for the Reds' academy graduate. Frimpong has made 190 appearances for the German club during which he also netted a total of 30 goals and provided 44 assists. He is also expected to make his debut for Liverpool alongside his Leverkusen teammate Wirtz. Milos Kerkez Kerkez arrived at Liverpool on a five-year deal, for a reported fee of £40m, last month, and is expected to don the Reds' jersey for the first time in their first competitive match of the 2025/26 season. The 21-year-old left-back was a regular starter for Bournemouth, making 74 appearances while registering two goals and eight assists in his two-year tenure at the Cherries. Giorgi Mamardashvili Last year, Liverpool agreed to sign goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia in a deal reportedly worth up to £29m. The Georgian star, whose contract at Anfield is valid until the summer of 2031, has already featured in one of the Reds' pre-season friendly matches. While Alisson Becker remains Liverpool's first-choice goalkeeper, Mamardashvili's arrival comes as a replacement for Caoimhin Kelleher, who has parted ways with the Reds to join Brentford this summer. Armin Pecsi Liverpool announced the signing of Hungarian goalkeeper Armin Pecsi from Puskas Akademia last month. His contract with the Reds is reportedly worth £1.5m ($2m). While several reports have suggested that the 20-year-old is expected to play for Liverpool's Under-21 side next season, he could receive a first-team call-up if Slot's squad need reinforcement. Freddie Woodman Woodman has joined Liverpool this month following the expiry of his contract with Preston North End. The 28-year-old Englishman is set to act as back-up to Becker and Mamardashvili in the upcoming season. Liverpool's academy player, centre-forward Keyrol Figueroa, 18, may also get a chance to make his debut for the first team in the 2025/26 campaign. Bayern Munich news and related links Is Hugo Ekitike really worth the money? Liverpool target assessed Florian Wirtz's father breaks silence on his failed transfer to Bayern Munich Cristiano Ronaldo makes transfer demand to sign Liverpool star this summer
New York Times
7 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Liverpool stand accused of double standards on transfers, but their spending is nothing new
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Liverpool have already spent more than £200million ($268m) on new players in this summer transfer window if you include the deal for Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, who arrived on Merseyside earlier this month but agreed to join last year. Advertisement Now, they are preparing to go further, after making contact with Eintracht Frankfurt over Hugo Ekitike (a signing that would probably take their outlay to around £300m), 24 hours after it was revealed that they had approached Newcastle over a proposed £120m deal for Alexander Isak. If either deal is done, it would make this the second-highest single-window spend in English football (behind Chelsea's 2023-24 summer, which nudged over £400m). It is, by any metric, a mind-boggling sum. For context, Liverpool could have signed a starting XI of Sadio Manes — who became the game's most expensive African footballer in 2016 for £30m — for such a figure and still have change left over. Mane arrived shortly before a pre-season tour in the United States, where Jurgen Klopp infamously reacted to the possibility of Paul Pogba re-signing for rivals Manchester United for a fee that was reported to be pushing £100m by implying he would rather do something else with his life than manage a football team if such a sum became the norm. 'The day that this is football, I'm not in a job anymore, because the game is about playing together,' he insisted. By the time Klopp left Liverpool in 2024, he would have the lowest net spend of English football's 'Big Six', yet he — and, by extension, the Liverpool supporters who believed in pretty much everything he said — have been reminded of this quote, as well as a few of the others he directed at Manchester City, Newcastle United and Chelsea, on each occasion the club has subsequently pushed boundaries. Maybe Liverpool would be guilty of double standards if the frenzied summer of 2025 was a departure from an old strategy, ignoring years of careful financial management at every operational level and submitting to the whims of on-pitch success by launching into the marketplace like Saudi Arabia's finest. Advertisement The slightly more boring reality, however, is that this really isn't the case. Liverpool's owners, Fenway Sports Group, may be risk-averse — a source of continual frustration for a section of the club's fanbase — but it has also been prepared for the club to spend its own money freely, both on transfer fees and salaries, when the resources have been there and the situation demands it. One of the reasons Klopp was so successful at Liverpool was that, originally, he was largely on the same page as the owners when it came to buying and selling. The aim was clear: buy small or buy big, but sell even bigger and then try to recycle. Under Klopp, Liverpool achieved great success because of the record fees that brought Virgil van Dijk (£75m) and Alisson Becker (£66.8m), but those deals were only possible because Liverpool sold Philippe Coutinho for roughly the same overall cost. With Champions League and Premier League titles following, Liverpool could work the market better, and with the right guidance at executive level, they could command more money than ever for their assets. Meanwhile, the club's commercial horizons broadened and, steadily, Anfield became bigger, driving more revenues to the extent that they are now England's most profitable club. Under Klopp, the club played Champions League football in six out of seven seasons (reaching the final again in 2022), and more recently, led by a different coach in Arne Slot, they have become English champions again despite a very quiet transfer market last summer, a decision which now looks like either a masterstroke or a slice of good fortune. When the club filed its accounts at the end of May, it showed the highest central payments ever received from the Premier League, and, unlike in 2020, FSG has not had to scale back any of its plans due to the uncertainty of a pandemic. Meanwhile, although Slot's team were knocked out of last season's Champions League in the round of 16 to the eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain on penalties, their almost unblemished record in an expanded group stage brought in around £90m. Advertisement It is true that vast sums have been committed to securing Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah to new contracts, but there have also been incoming funds. Already this summer, sporting director Richard Hughes has sold two players from the club's academy for around £45m of pure profit, with others likely to follow. That is all before you consider the futures of Darwin Nunez (another record buy who ultimately has not justified his price tag but appears to still have a reasonable market value) and Luis Diaz, who seems as determined to leave as Liverpool are to keep him. Even after Florian Wirtz was bought from Bayer Leverkusen for a record £100m plus add-ons at the start of June, Liverpool were exploring their forward options. This was considered a moment of opportunity: champions can attack the market with more confidence and command better money for their own players. It feels awkward connecting the tragic death of Diogo Jota and any transfer activity, but his passing has given the pursuit of a new striker added urgency and clearly presents a challenge in terms of how and when is best to enter the market, for fear of being seen as insensitive. Ultimately, they were already spending big in the window and had room in their budget to bring in another key signing. Perhaps the only withdrawal from the norm is the timing of all this. In the past, FSG and Liverpool have invited criticism by not reacting to success and going big. Instead, they have done it to try to catch up with City. Now they are attempting to accelerate away from them.
BBC News
14-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'Very proud' - Mamardashvili reflects on first Liverpool appearance
New Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili says he knows "the responsibilities that come with wearing the shirt" after making his first appearance in the pre-season friendly at Preston on Georgia international played 45 minutes in the 3-1 win and told club media, external afterwards it was "a really proud moment"."This badge means so much to so many people," he said. "I'm here just to give my best in every training session, in every match to help the team and earn the trust of our fans."Everybody knows this club has big ambitions and I want to be part of such [a] journey."Mamardashvili caught the eye during Euro 2024 with his superb performances for his national side, clinching a move to Liverpool that finally became official earlier this faces a daunting test to oust first-choice keeper Alisson from between the sticks and preferred to focus on how delighted he was to be at Anfield."I don't like talking too much about myself," he said, "but I think I'm a very calm, concentrated goalkeeper and I'm very fast and quick."Ali is one of the best goalkeepers in the world right now and I can't wait to start to work [with] him and learn from him."I am very proud to be the first Georgian player for Liverpool and I know how much this means for my family and [for] Georgian people as well."
New York Times
14-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Giorgi Mamardashvili learning from Alisson, embracing Liverpool goalkeeping ‘challenge'
Giorgi Mamardashvili believes he will develop as a goalkeeper from working with Alisson as he vowed to embrace the challenge of trying to become Liverpool No 1. The Georgia international officially joined the Premier League champions at the start of July — nearly a year after Liverpool struck a £29million deal with Valencia. Advertisement Mamardashvili has replaced Caoimhin Kelleher, who was sold to Brentford for a fee rising to £18m last month, and the new arrival may have to be patient with Alisson so well established in Arne Slot's side. 'What I can tell about Ali, he's one of the best goalkeepers in the world right now and I am so happy to work with him,' he told the club's website. 'I can't wait to start to work with him and learn from him. Of course it will be a challenge. I like challenges and I'm here to just give my best and help the team. 'It's a huge moment for me because joining a club like Liverpool. It's not only a transfer, it's a dream come true for me. I feel ready, motivated and proud. I'm here in the biggest club in Premier League history. 'When I was a child I always watched some videos on YouTube of goalkeepers, and I remember some Liverpool goalkeepers as well. I remember Jerzy Dudek and then Pepe Reina and now Alisson. Liverpool has a big goalkeeper legacy and I want to try to write my own chapter.' With Alisson absent, Mamardashvili played the first half of Sunday's 3-1 friendly win over Preston North End at Deepdale. It was an emotionally charged occasion following the recent deaths of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva in a car accident in Spain. 'When I first arrived here it was a really tough moment for the club,' he added. 'But everyone here has supported each other and I see here is like a big family. We are not just a team, we are people who care about each other. 'I didn't have a chance to play with him (Jota) but I played against him at Euro 2024, so I saw how amazing he was. I saw stories and messages and the love from people around him.' ()
