OPINION
There could well be a fair few departures from Liverpool this summer, as manager Jurgen Klopp looks to offload some of the deadwood in his squad.
Playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri, though, shouldn’t be one of those pushed out the Anfield exit door. Goal reported on Wednesday that a good offer for the Swiss star could see him sold this summer after an up-and-down debut season on Merseyside.
That would be madness, wouldn’t it? The 27-year-old only arrived at the club from Stoke City in the summer of 2018, before enjoying a terrific first half of the campaign.
Shaqiri was being talked about as the missing link for Liverpool, the player that Jurgen Klopp needed to provide the link between midfield and attack.
However, the German then inexplicably decided to ignore the diminutive playmaker for the majority of the rest of the season. Despite that, when Klopp was forced to recall him against Barcelona in their Champions League semi final second leg, it was Shaqiri who provided the assist for one of Georginio Wijnaldum’s two goals off the bench.
Even rusty after months of inactivity he showed he could make the difference at the top level. That kind of quality isn’t easy to find, so why would the Reds give up on Shaqiri after just one season?
Surely it’s too early for the club offload a player who scored six goals and grabbed five assists in limited minutes this term. He’s got bundles of ability and if given regular game time could make a major impact for Liverpool moving forward.
Dumping the Switzerland international this summer would surely be a big blunder. He’s still got a part to play at Anfield – Klopp must keep hold of him.
