Liverpool are closing in on their first summer signing of Arne Slot, but he won't be at Anfield this season
Liverpool are close to completing a deal to sign goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, talkSPORT understands.
The move to sign the 23-year-old from Valencia worth £34 million.
However, the Georgian will not join… Arne's Slotuntil next season.
Mamardashvili will remain at Valencia for the remainder of this season before moving to Merseyside in 2025.
LiverpoolThe move comes despite interest from Premier League clubs including Bournemouth.
As a result, he becomes Slot's first signing since replacing Jürgen Klopp as manager.
However, as a future signing, Liverpool will be interested in more additions this summer.
The Reds have been on the lookout for a new goalkeeper with a view to becoming Alisson Becker's long-term replacement at the club.
Mamardashvili, who shone between the sticks for Georgia at Euro 2024, has a contract with Valencia for three more years.
After signing for FC Locomotic on an initial loan deal in 2021, the youngster quickly established himself as Valencia's number one goalkeeper.
He has since made 101 appearances for the club in all competitions and has missed just one top-flight game since the 2022/23 season.
Mamardashvili also made history at Valencia by becoming the player with the most consecutive league starts for the club in that time, starting 69 times in a row.
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While signing a goalkeeper is all well and good, Danny Murphy believes signing a central midfielder is the priority.
“You can't judge a team by its signings until the transfer window closes,” he said. “Important signings and high-quality players sometimes take a while to come to fruition.”
“You know what happens in the transfer market: we have seen it many, many times.
“If there is a big shot coming from somewhere, they will be very disappointed that they didn't sign Zubimendi because I think they thought that was going too far.
“Last year they lost to (Romeo) Lavia and (Moisés) Caicedo and now they also lost to Zubimendi. It's not good at all, especially when they need a player in that position.”
