Alisson has already provided answer to surprise Liverpool question after title success

"They're doing what?"

That was the general Liverpool reaction among transfer-hungry Reds supporters in the summer when, amidst a dearth of rumours linking the club with the outfield players that everyone felt they sorely needed, .

Giorgi Mamardashvili, who had caught the eye for Georgia at the Euros and who had impressed for Valencia in La Liga, was suddenly becoming a £25million Liverpool player, with suggestions that he might be immediately loaned out to Bournemouth in order to acclimatise to the Premier League.

In the event Mamardashvili ended up staying at Valencia for the campaign, but the deal for the now 24-year-old raised an uncomfortable realisation among Reds supporters: Alisson won't go on forever.

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The Brazilian has been Liverpool's undisputed No.1 ever since arriving from Roma as the world's most expensive goalkeeper in 2018, although he lost that tag just weeks later when Chelsea signed Kepa Arrizabalaga from Athletic Bilbao.

The fact that it was the Spaniard, and not Mamardashvili, who has spent the season with Bournemouth shows that the journey of a goalkeeper is often not a smooth one, but Alisson has proven to the bedrock of Liverpool's successes over the past seven years.

The only thing that isn't dependable about Alisson is injury record, with his issues striking again this season as he's missed 10 Premier League games through a hamstring injury sustained in October and then a concussion on international duty in March.

Caoimhin Kelleher stepped in for those matches with a minimum of fuss as he usually does, but the drop-off in quality was underlined when Alisson returned to star in .

That was a great performance, but THE great performance of his season came of course in , when the Reds smashed and grabbed what everyone thought was a huge win on the way to the last eight.

Alisson was remarkable that night, underlining why he's still got so long left at the top at the age of 32. He has two years left on his contract, and having resolved some of those long-standing issues in recent weeks, the Reds would do well to offer him a new one.

Because while Mamardashvili may link up with the squad next season, perhaps at the expense of Kelleher, there's no doubt who Liverpool's No.1 is.

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