Giorgi Mamardashvili is set to officially join Liverpool at the end of the season, after a final campaign at Valencia, so how is the goalkeeper performing?
Mamardashvili has been a name rarely mentioned since his £25 million transfer from Valencia to Liverpool was confirmed in August.
Staying at Valencia for the 2024/25 campaign, the Georgian has effectively stayed out of sight and out of mind in LaLiga, while both Alisson and Caoimhin Kelleher impress for his future club.
The form of Alisson and Kelleher has raised eyebrows among supporters when it comes to the imminent arrival of a new goalkeeper expecting the No. 1 spot.
So how has Mamardashvili performed since the news of his 2025 switch and can Liverpool fans anticipate a changing of the guard this summer?
To hear more about Mamardashvili’s season so far, This Is Anfield spoke to Ruairidh Barlow (@RuriBarlow), editor of Football Espana.
Firstly, how has Mamardashvili’s season gone so far?
Honestly, it’s been a much more discreet season from Mamardashvili so far, which is much more a function of Valencia’s current form than his own performances.
There’s still been games where you have Valencia fans saying if it wasn’t for Mamardashvili then things would have been much worse.
Every rule has its exception and Mamardashvili, having made a brilliant save with the game goalless, allowed Sevilla’s stoppage-time equaliser past him with a weak hand on his return from injury in January.
It was a brutal mistake, but not a characteristic one, and the shock from Valencia fans after was evidence of that. That would be the low point of the season from his point of view.
That said, it was pretty clear that last year he was one of the top two or three goalkeepers in LaLiga; Mamardashvili stood up and was tallest both metaphorically and literally for Valencia last season.
This season, he’s been a little less noticeable.
What has stood out in his game in the first half of the campaign?
If there’s one thing that has stood out, it’s his double save against Getafe.
With his body weight going the wrong way, he stuck out a big paw to claw away a shot from close range, and miraculously was up again to push away a flying volley on the rebound at full stretch.
His reactions look fast even in slow motion.
That’s being talked about as the save of the season so far in Spain, and it’s pretty hard to mount a counter-argument. Never hurts when that save came in stoppage time, and saved Valencia a point in the process.
Otherwise, the big news for Mamardashvili has been the collection of the plaudits from earlier in the year.
He finished seventh in the voting for the Lev Yashin award at the Ballon d’Or and also won Georgian Player of the Year, the latter ahead of national hero Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Valencia are clearly struggling – is that in spite of Mamardashvili or has he been part of the problem?
I’d say in spite of Mamardashvili.
There is no escaping that his save percentage is down to 59.2 percent, when his previous three seasons he has never dropped below 70 percent. He’s also making about a save less per game.
Even so, he’s about even with his expected goals against compared to his goals against.
Valencia had a reasonably solid defence last year, but are conceding 0.3 goals per game more, and that kind of plays out with his statistics too.
If Los Che have been more porous, they’re by no means a disaster at the back, and only one team in the bottom seven has a better defensive record. At the time of writing, they’re sitting bottom.
Not that Valencia fans are predisposed to criticise him given previous services rendered, but I’ve not seen any of it, and nor has there been any suggestion that he’s responsible.
Mamardashvili missed their last three games of 2024 with an injury and Stole Dimitrievski – who is good competition – did not manage to spark any hint of becoming No. 1, with the Georgian taking over again at the weekend.
Mamardashvili is not at the level he was last year, but he’s simply producing a few miracles fewer and remains one of the best in LaLiga.
When we last spoke you suggested he was less ‘proactive’ than a goalkeeper like Alisson – are there any signs that is changing?
Honestly, not a huge amount.
He’s been under the same manager (Ruben Baraja before he was sacked in December), and working in the same system, so it’s not really been asked of him either.
Valencia have dropped deep again this season, and so he’s not really been pushing behind a high line save for end-of-game situations.
It should be noted he’s still one of the goalkeepers in LaLiga that gives the most confidence and security to his back line, but in terms of – forgive the simplification – playing front-foot, Champions League-side football there’s been no real development.
He’s playing about five percent fewer long balls and going ever so slightly shorter, but that’s more natural variance than a conscious change in my view.
Mamardashvili could start on the back-foot with Liverpool fans next season such is the popularity of Alisson and Kelleher – do you think he’s capable of standing up to that challenge?
Absolutely.
From what I know of the Kop, they aren’t likely to turn on him even if they have an affection for Kelleher and Alisson.
But Mamardashvili came as the third-choice goalkeeper at Valencia, and was really signed to play for their B team.
There were injuries to give him his break in the first two games, but he was playing first-team football a month after arriving and never really exited the side after that.
He’s used to doing things the hard way.
For Valencia, he beat out two established LaLiga veterans in Jaume Domenech and Iago Herrerin, with experience of European football at Valencia and Athletic Club.
Mamardashvili earned his first call-up for Georgia at the age of 21, and by 22 he was their first choice too.
He replaced Giorgi Loria, who is a long way from a household name but is a veteran and had been the No. 1 for the majority of the last decade.
If anything, he’s used to starting on the back-foot at this point, and quite often in much more adverse situations than he will be in at Liverpool, even if the pressure is perhaps not quite the same.
* Thanks to Ruairidh Barlow for this update on Mamardashvili. You can follow Ruairidh on X @RuriBarlow.
