Liverpool’s pursuit of Giorgi Mamardashvili could take a major twist this summer, with Manchester United reportedly in the running to hijack the deal .
The Valencia goalkeeper has been strongly linked with a move to Liverpool , although reports have suggested he may not arrive this summer. An initial loan move has been touted before he joins up with the Reds, although there is conjecture over what exactly the deal will entail .
Initial reports suggested Mamardashvili would remain at Valencia for another year before making the move to Merseyside, although recent claims from Spanish outlet AS have pointed to a two-year loan at Bournemouth instead .
According to HITC , a deal has been agreed in principle which will see the Georgia international join the Cherries temporarily before he completes a $45m (£35m/€41m) switch to Liverpool. That deal though could come under threat from the Reds’ biggest rival.
As per The Mirror , Mamardashvili is also open to a move to Old Trafford, and a decision from United could hinge on them offloading Jadon Sancho in order to give themselves some wiggle room with the Premier League ’s profit and sustainability rules.
Having already splashed the cash on Leny Yoro, Joshua Zirkzee, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, nothing quite sums up the difference in approach between United and Liverpool than the former potentially trying to hijack a deal for a goalkeeper they shouldn't even need.
If United were to beat the Reds to Mamardashvili, that would tell you all you need to know about their business last year. Don't forget, Erik ten Hag went big - $61m (£47.2m/€55m) to be exact - to get his former Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana at Old Trafford, while also signing Altay Bayindir for $5.5m (£4.3m/€5m).
You might not even be familiar with the latter - that's because Ten Hag showed such little faith in him last season that he kept Andre Onana behind rather than let him join up with Cameroon for the build-up to the Africa Cup of Nations, ensuring that Bayindir played just one game for United, and even that was at League Two side Newport County in the FA Cup.
Going after Mamardashvili then would be yet another damning indictment on Ten Hag's transfer dealings, considering the 23-year-old would surely want to take the No.1 spot away from Onana, whose first season at Old Trafford was littered with high profile mistakes.
And seeing United once again splash the cash on signings that might not even improve them just adds weight to Arne Slot's theory , which he shared when he was questioned on Liverpool's lack of signings on Friday.
"I truly believe that the training ground [is where] you can help players and the team to improve," Slot said. "That is also what happened here in recent years, that the training ground really helped the team to improve.
“Maybe what you mean is if the clubs around do strengthen the team then maybe they become better. But it’s not always true that if you bring in new players the team becomes stronger, because I also believe in general that every player in the team needs to have perspective on playing time. If you keep bringing players in, sometimes the energy in the group goes down as well.”
United and Ten Hag would do well to listen to Slot. Although Liverpool's lack of signings has been frustrating this summer, at the other end of the spectrum you have their biggest rival who just can't stop throwing money around. It's not a plan that has worked for them over the last decade though.
United signing Mamardashvili would surely do exactly what Slot suggests disrupt the energy of a group that has already had plenty of questions asked of it. If Ten Hag has any sense, he'll let Liverpool have this one.
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