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It looks like there are more transfer moves being made by Richard Hughes before he jets off to be the new sporting director for Al Hilal, and these two particular players weren’t on this writer’s summer transfer bingo card. Jeepers Keepers: Liverpool’s Giorgi Mamardashvili and Lucca Brughmans Liverpool’s pivot to a new succession plan for Alisson Becker could signal a mad scramble at the deadline. As was hoped, after a somewhat confusing and frustrating summer for transfers, there appears to be a flurry of deals being reported that feel a lot more substantial than mere rumors. One particular position I don’t feel any supporters were considering is goalkeeper, yet according to various outlets there could be movement both ways with Nottingham Forest showing interest in Liverpool’s current number two Giorgio Mamardashvili and 18 year-old Dutch keeper Lucca Brughmans replacing him. It appears that Brughmans is having his medical now under the supervision of parent club KRC Genk before a deal is finalized with the window soon to be shut. The fee that’s been circulated is close to £30M for the 6’ 7” teenager, and even though his senior appearances are only twelve games Brughman is being touted as a generational talent. It is also being reported that Genk will likely keep Braughmans for the rest of the season and he will then join Liverpool next summer, but with other rumors regarding Giorgi there could also be a case where the Belgium teenager could find himself Liverpool’s new number two keeper behind Alisson Becker this season. The flip side to this news is the chance that Giorgi could be loaned out or even sold but as of yet this writer hasn’t seen anything beyond Nottingham Forest approaching Liverpool about whether a deal is possible. This writer hopes we hold onto our number two keeper this season as we all know that Alisson Becker always misses chunks of each campaign due to injuries, and the trend has lengthened in time spent in recovery as Alisson ages. Giorgi’s career really took off when he joined Spanish club Valencia permanently, following a year loan, in December 2021 and during his time there he went 560 minutes consecutively without conceding a goal. In 2023 Giorgi was named Valencia’s player of the year and continued to produce great numbers with his performances which attracted the attention of Liverpool who signed our present number two keeper in August 2024 and joined the summer before the 25/26 Premier League season. The promise was strong as a superb shot stopper and Giorgi had proved he rarely got injured which is a major factor for a team’s consistency and so it looked like a clever move to ease the transition from one aging world class keeper to another upcoming one. We’ve seen it before where a player is brought in with high hopes for player, club and supporters yet time on the bench, loan moves or other circumstances lead to the player’s Liverpool career never really taking off and that could be what happens for Georgian keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili. This writer tends to look at a player’s positives than judging negatively yet it’s true that the biggest issue with supporters is Giorgi’s inadequate distribution and ball-at-feet skills which could also be an issue with head coach Andoni Iraola. Giorgi hasn’t exactly won over the confidence amongst many supporters and if these reports are true then it’s not just the supporters who feel he isn’t up to the task to become Liverpool’s number one when Alisson leaves (and Ali’s contract is up next summer). Even so, it does not seem wise to this writer to weaken our depth further than Hughes has already managed, but the feelings about how our transfers have been handled since Jurgen Klopp left is more Wrecking Ball than smart Moneyball, or whatever the approach FSG and Hughes want to call it nowadays. So this really could be either a frantic and fulfilling and head scratching and frustrating end to the summer circus of transfer dealings, where more money will exchange hands, players will change clubs, and one particular sporting director will be doing the same (there will probably be no good luck cards and well wishes from the supporters when you go, Richard, sorry).