Liverpool may have Alisson, or they may not. And yet the goalkeeping situation for Saturday’s game against Crystal Palace might actually be a microcosm of next season, amid hints of uncertainty that, deliberately or otherwise, Arne Slot contrived to increase.
The Brazilian has been the most reliable and reassuring of presences in Liverpool’s goal for eight years. When they triggered a one-year contract extension in March, it seemed safe to say there would be a ninth. Now? It may be less certain. Alisson has played in Serie A for Roma, speaks Italian and his agent was in Turin this week. Juventus are interested, albeit yet to contact Liverpool, as they look for an upgrade on Michele di Gregorio. Which, it is safe to say, Alisson would be.
Liverpool would seem to have less incentive to let him leave. Slot, with his natural dislike of speculation, preferred to cite Alisson’s hamstring injury. “The main focus for Ali is very clear, that is getting back in goal as soon as possible for the club he loves to play for and then he wants to be in goal for the country he wants to play for, that is Brazil,” he said. “I think that is already the short- and mid-term future.”
If Alisson’s attributes include his shot-stopping – particularly his uncanny ability when one-on-one with attackers – another is an unruffled temperament. Jurgen Klopp loved his character and the feeling is that Slot, too, likes it. There was the sense Liverpool would need it still more next season. With vice-captain Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah going, they are losing two of their senior players. The probability was that Alisson would take on the duties as Virgil van Dijk’s deputy. The Dutchman said last week he definitely had an opinion on who the next vice-captain should be but that Liverpool need new leaders to emerge.
But logically Alisson’s experience should be even more important than before. “Well, that is your opinion and I will bring that opinion to the ownership and to Richard [Hughes, the director of football],” countered Slot. “I think the club is run in a certain way and we make decisions that the club thinks are in the best interests of the club. And it could mean this is the reason why. It could mean another good argument why we acted how we acted.
“I think the history of all the transfers shows that nothing was done without a purpose or without thinking about it. Look, the people who make these decisions take everything into account. They try to make the best decisions with the interest of the club. [Experience] is definitely one argument to keep him but there are other arguments. That is a decision the club has to make if that is needed. In the end, he still has one year [on his contract].”
It was a strangely non-committal answer. There are factors for Liverpool to consider. One is Alisson’s fitness issues. He has safe hands, but perhaps the most fragile hamstrings in goalkeeping. Liverpool are looking into the injuries he is suffering.
It has meant they have needed a fine second-choice goalkeeper. They have one, too; Giorgi Mamardashvili may be the best second-choice in the country – a distinction that had belonged to his predecessor, Caoimhin Kelleher – but, at £25m, he is also among the most expensive. The feeling was that the Georgian was not bought just to be an understudy, and nor would be want to be; eight years Alisson’s junior, he had the look of a successor when he was signed.
Mamardashvili had an outstanding game away at Paris Saint-Germain, as Alisson did last year. It is the best of his 18 outings this season. For now, though Alisson is one of the top 10 goalkeepers in the world – and perhaps the top five – and Mamardashvili is not. Yet as Slot hinted, there are times to turn to the future.
But if Liverpool contemplate life without Alisson, they face a decision: is Mamardashvili good enough to be the long-term No 1? If not, there are few reasons to dispense with Alisson, when a buy could cost a huge amount and when some of their summer budget must go on Salah’s replacement.
This year is the last chance to get a fee for Alisson, which may be appreciated further as they will not recoup anything for Salah and Robertson. But an injury-prone 33-year-old in the last year of his deal would not command a significant sum. In any case, Serie A clubs have a habit of making lowball offers and Juventus may not want to match Alisson’s current salary anyway.
His income could be a factor in any decision. Liverpool might have the biggest wage bill in the Premier League this season. They could do with it coming down. Salah, the biggest earner, is going. Alisson and Robertson might be in the top six – along with Van Dijk, Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz – as each signed their current deal in 2021, two years after winning the Champions League, one after winning the Premier League.
Alisson’s contained the option for an extra year which Liverpool triggered last month. There has long been a theory that when he does leave Anfield, it will be to return to Brazil. That may still be the case, and might be in 2027. But Slot stopped short of guaranteeing his goalkeeper will be on Merseyside again next year. There was a time when Klopp, to the tune of Queen’s Radio Ga Ga, sang “all you need is Alisson Becker”. Now Liverpool need to decide if that is still the case.
