New Liverpool signing Giorgi Mamardashvili explains why he decided to stay at Valencia

Valencia may not have made much in the way of big investments this summer, but their one saving grace has been the fact that they could hang onto Giorgi Mamardashvili. He has been key for them over the last three seasons, but will eventually join Liverpool.

The deal will be worth €30m, but could rise to €35m, however he will remain at Los Che for at least one more season. He could have gone to Bournemouth on loan and earned a reported €2-3m more, but decided to remain at Mestalla. He explained his decision, after confirming the move to Liverpool.

“I am very grateful to the fans, this city and this club have changed my life, I want to give everything I can this year too. They have been key in my professional career, these three years have been incredible, I wanted to say thank you for that, which is why I wanted to stay here. Mestalla is something different for me, it is a very good stadium.,” he told Relevo.

The Georgian shot-stopper also expressed a desire to turn around Valencia’s situation, having picked up just a point from their opening five fixtures. They are rooted to the bottom of the table, but Mamardashvili was convinced they would return to winning ways imminently.

He also spoke about being nominated for the Lev Yashin Award by France Football, for the best goalkeeper of the year.

“When I was in Georgia, it was my dream to be one of the best, being nominated for one of the Ballon d’Ors was a huge joy. When I got the news, I thought, ‘My God, I’m already there’.”

Valencia had already signed Stole Dimitrievski from Rayo Vallecano to replace Mamardashvili, but if they are to be in a relegation battle, Ruben Baraja will sleep easier with the latter in goal. Last season he had the largest expected goals to goals conceded differential, due in no small part to his brilliant reflexes.

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