Liverpool has performed a Xherdan Shaqiri u-turn.
Shaqiri has become a forgotten man on Merseyside. He’s barely featured for the past two seasons as injury issues have plagued the Swiss international’s Anfield career, while manager Jurgen Klopp seems reluctant to play the forward unless he’s forced to.
However, the fans still remember Shaq. Many believe he could do a good job for the side, and point to high-quality performances in his first campaign as evidence of that.
Last January saw transfer rumours linking the former Bayern Munich and Inter Milan man with moves to Serie A and La Liga, but they failed to materialize.
Klopp and sporting director Michael Edwards were also happy to cash in on the 29-year-old this summer, but have since changed their minds.
The Daily Star has quoted reports from the Echo, who say Shaqiri will not be for sale. Klopp wants the forward to help Liverpool push for Premier Lague and Champions League honours, and doesn’t want to deplete squad options by selling Shaqiri – wrote the Star.
When he’s available, Shaq can certainly be someone who does that. We’ve seen those flashes of quality, on and off, since he arrived in July 2018.
Two goals against Manchester United in his debut campaign gave Liverpool a win – at that point he’d scored six goals in 10 games. We were all feeling excited about having such a high-quality back-up to Mohamed Salah, but that was the highlight of his career so far.
It doesn’t appear as if Klopp trusts Shaq the way he trusts someone like Diogo Jota, who has come in and become an important part of the squad overnight.
However, Shaqiri does provide further depth and will certainly be required before the end of the season – if he can stay fit.
One more season at Liverpool is a good idea, but he probably doesn’t have much future at the club beyond that.