Nantes goalkeeper Anthony Lopes has claimed that he turned down the opportunity to seal a move to Liverpool’s in last summer’s transfer window.
Giorgi Mamardashbili is set to join the Reds at the end of the season, having agreed to move there last year, prior to remaining at Valencia for the whole of the 2024/25 campaign.
It could spell the end for Caoimhin Kelleher, potentially seeing him drop to being Liverpool’s third-choice ‘keeper, and will have to decide whether it makes sense to move on in the summer and find a new permanent club.
Speaking to Foot Mercato [via Sport Witness], Lopes claimed that he opted not to join Liverpool last year, but would have contemplated a move later in the summer window.
“Did I say no to becoming Liverpool’s number two,” Lopes said.
“Yes, in June, I said no. I’ll be very clear: I didn’t have that option in mind at all. I told myself that I had to keep playing, that I had fire in my legs, and that I couldn’t put my bum on the bench, even if it was at Liverpool, Bayern, or elsewhere.
“But I’ll be very clear: if this offer had come at the end of August, just before the end of the transfer window, I would have accepted it, I would have left, I would have put my bum on the bench, and I would have shut my mouth.”
A better option than Mamardashvili?
Lopes is a hugely experienced player now, with the 34-year-old shining at a high level for many years, making an eye-catching 489 appearances for Lyon, prior to joining Nantes midway through the current campaign.
The Portuguese could have been an astute signing for Liverpool, but at the same time, he wouldn’t have been a long-term option, given his age.
For that reason, Mamardashvili represents the more sensible choice, with the Georgian someone who could gradually usurp Alisson over time, as the Brazilian’s brilliance gradually starts to wane.
Hopefully, that isn’t for a long time, however, and at 32, the Liverpool legend should remain at the peak of his powers for some time yet.
