Xherdan Shaqiri is too good for Liverpool.
The Swiss maestro seems to have put his injury plagued 12 months behind him and has emerged out of the other end as a serious rotation option.
When Jurgen Klopp sent on Diogo Jota, Takumi Minamino and Xherdan Shaqiri at the same time against Ajax, it was a massive statement as to the strength in depth Liverpool now have.
While Jota and Minamino might be okay with biding their time and waiting for their moment in the sun, Shaqiri is different.
This is a man who was on a mission earlier in his career. In a few short years, he represented some of the biggest clubs across Europe as Bayern Munich brought him to Germany and Inter gave him a taste of life in one of the continent’s fashion capitals.
A stint at Stoke City was probably supposed to be a stepping stone, and it was – of sorts. Liverpool came knocking but Shaqiri has experienced a weird stagnation.
He’s now into his third season of Merseyside and can count winners’ medals from the Champions League and Premier League as part of his collection, but the forward has actually participated in very little.
When it was made clear that the Powercube could leave for the right price, teams were queuing up to the take the precocious talent.
His performance against FC Midtjylland in the Champions League was excellent – one Rush The Kop writer thought he was the best player on the park – and it leads us to the uncomfortable truth about Shaqiri.
This man is too good for Liverpool.
Having strength in depth is amazing and it’ll help the team towards bigger and better things, but Shaqiri is too good to waste his remaining prime years playing once every three games.
It’ll hurt, but the best thing we can do for the Swiss international is to set him free. He deserves to spend some time featuring every week, and delighing crowds like he’s delighted Anfield on occasion.
They’ll be someone else who can take his place warming the bench. A club the size of Liverpool will always attract players. Let’s set the big man free.