Scouting Report: Giorgi Mamardashvili, Liverpool’s Future Number One?

Written by Mizgan on 26/08/2024

With the reports that Liverpool have completed a deal to sign Georgia international Giorgi Mamardashvili, it is only right that we do a deep dive on him to look at what kind of goalkeeper the Reds are getting in the future (since he will be loaned back to Valencia till the end of the current season).

On the face of it, this looks like a clever deal from the club. They might be expecting the player’s value to go up by n-fold in the coming years. So, even though the current number one Alisson Becker (age 31) has stated his desire to see out his contract (until 2027) at the club or even extend it, by the end of his current contract, the Brazil international will have turned 34. While that is still not old for a goalkeeper, the club may look part ways with him then and hope that Mamardashvili has earned the experience to step in as the first-choice option from the 2027/28 season.

Let’s not speculate any further and focus on knowing more about the Georgian number one and what the numbers are telling us about him.

Mamardashvili was a Dinamo Tbilisi Academy product back in Georgia before making his senior debut there. He played FC Locomotive and Rustavi in that country before moving to Valencia in 2021 initially on a loan deal. The move was made permanent in January 2022. He became the number one for the La Liga side since the start of the 2022/23 season. His rise as a shot-stopper has been meteoric, to say the least. 

Since Valencia have been a mid-table side for the past two years at best (averaging less than 50% possession on average), Mamardashvili hasn’t played in a system that dominates the ball and builds from the back. Hence, it would be difficult to gauge his passing and on-the-ball numbers. 

However, the 23-year-old was the best shot-stopper in Spain last season with 10.2 goals prevented (the metric name is Post-Shot Expected Goals minus Goals Conceded). He was the best shot-stopper in the Euros as well with 4.1 goals prevented in four games. 

Below, we have a dashboard to see where the 23-year-old is in terms of numbers up against the keepers of the top-5 leagues in Europe for last season.

When it comes to saving shots, preventing goals and stopping crosses by being dominant in his area, there weren’t many better than Mamardashvili in Europe last season. Only when we see passes and actions as a sweeper, it is difficult to write home the judgements because, as mentioned above, he has been playing for a mid-table side in Spain that has neither been dominating possession nor playing a high line.