Alisson Becker has reiterated his commitment to keep playing for Liverpool as speculation surrounding his future continues in the background.
Alisson Becker is widely considered one of those signings that transformed Liverpool’s fortunes, and quite rightly justified the club’s €62.5 million outlay to sign him from Roma in the summer of 2018. Winning the Premier League twice and the Champions League once are among the numerous titles the Brazilian achieved during his time at the club.
The key star is in the final year of his deal, with many reports stating a possibility of Alisson departing next summer. The keeper’s contract expires in the summer, and he was already linked with an exit back in the summer, with current second choice Giorgi Mamardashvili pencilled in to take over from the Brazilian.
Liverpool are already looking at options to replace Alisson, as per reports, although there’s no clarity on who might be the ideal replacement for the experienced Brazilian stopper. Bart Verbruggen is a target for the Reds, and given his experience and recent good performances for Brighton, he might be someone to bet on to replace Alisson for the long-term future.
Alisson plans on Liverpool stay
However, Alisson is not planning on leaving Liverpool anytime soon and remains committed to the club, at least through the comments he made that appeared on Sky Sports. The Brazilian insisted that he is focused on playing for the Merseysiders moving ahead, while his agent stated there are already talks with the club over a new deal.
Starting with the keeper himself, this is what Alisson said when asked about his future with Liverpool following the win over Crystal Palace. “Yes, in my mind,” he said. “I’m focused on playing every game, but in my mind I’m happy to stay. You know, that depends on a lot of aspects and different situations.
“But my will is to stay. I’m happy here, my family is happy here. I’m still hungry for titles and for delivering good performances. I still want to play at the top level for as long as I can. So that’s my thinking on that.”
Meanwhile, his agent, Ze Maria, said more about his future, as his comments on Win Win reiterated the keeper’s love for Liverpool and suggested there are preliminary talks taking place to renew his deal at the club.
Ze Maria said, “Alisson loves Liverpool very much. We are in preliminary talks to renew the contract.”
There will be a few key questions about the keeper if Liverpool do end up renewing his contract. First and foremost is his fitness record, as Alisson does end up getting injured for decent hauls every season, and that has come back to bite Liverpool in their quest to win titles.
Secondly, there are doubts about whether he can bring his best performances to the pitch, and, referencing the Palace win, where he was good, the games before that, there were some key errors that he made against Arsenal and Fenerbahce. He is still one of the top-level keepers in England and possibly Europe, although Liverpool must start finding the right replacements rather than renewing his stay.