Ballon d’OR rankings highlight great Liverpool decision ahead of 2025/26 campaign

The 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony has concluded in Paris with Man City’s Rodri crowned as the winner but the rankings show that Liverpool made a great decision by signing Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.

Posted Tuesday, October 29, 2024 by Caughtoffside.com

The Reds had a very quiet 2024 summer transfer window as there were a lot of changes happening behind the scenes at the Merseyside club following the departure of Jurgen Klopp.

New head coach Arne Slot also needed to assess his squad and with the Dutch coach happy with what he saw, the Premier League outfit only brought in two players.

Liverpool acquired Federico Chiesa from Juventus, who is technically the only player the Reds added for the current season, as the Premier League giants also signed Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia as part of a £29m deal but loaned the goalkeeper back to the La Liga side.

The Georgia international impressed throughout the 2023/24 campaign and put in some great displays for his nation during Euro 2024.

This caught the attention of several clubs around Europe, however, Liverpool caught everybody out by making a move for the 24-year-old during the summer.

This has now proven to be a very smart piece of business and the latest Ballon d'Or rankings highlight this.

Liverpool signed Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia during the summer.

Liverpool star Giorgi Mamardashvili achieves impressive Ballon d'Or ranking

Mamardashvili finished seventh in the final rankings for the Yachine Trophy, which crowned the best goalkeeper in the world and was awarded to Aston Villa's Emi Martnez.

The Georgian goalkeeper finished ahead of Liverpool's current number-one Alisson and it highlights the great piece of business the Reds did over the summer to sign the 24-year-old early as Valencia could have demanded more for the player in 2025 now that he is officially one of the top 10 players in the world in his position.

Next season will be interesting to see if Mamardashvili can take Alisson's place at Anfield or will the Georgian star have to wait a year before replacing the Brazilian at the Merseyside club.