Liverpool are likely to lose one of the most decorated players in their squad at the end of this season, as Xherdan Shaqiri looks to restart his career after an injury-plagued 2019/20 campaign. The Swiss midfielder has had a stop-start season, being restricted to only ten appearances across all competitions in his second campaign at Anfield, and the arrival of Takumi Minamino in January seems to have pushed him even further down the pecking order as Liverpool aim to complete their first Premier League title when the season resumes. As expected, top betting sites in Nigeria 2020 are still taking bets on the outcome.
Despite only having been at Anfield for a little over 18 months, Shaqiri has already become a fan favourite, especially with his double strike against Manchester United last season. However, the 28-year-old has largely been used off the bench by Jurgen Klopp, having failed to dislodge the front three of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah. What’s more, Minamino seems to have moved ahead of him in the queue for the backup spot as well, with Divock Origi already established as the stand-in for Mane whenever Klopp decides to give the Senegalese attacker a rest. Adam Lallana has been influential whenever he has made an appearance, and if recent reports are to be believed, he could be in line for a contract extension, with his current deal expiring at the end of June. The likes of Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliot have also impressed this season, with Ben Woodburn and Harry Wilson likely to compete for a spot as well once they return from loan at the end of the season. With so many players vying for just a couple of spots, it was always likely that Shaqiri would need to move on to get the regular game time he wants.
There is no shortage of suitors for the diminutive winger, with AS Roma, CSKA Moscow and Sevilla all supposed to be interested in him. Any deal would cost the buying club around €30 million, doubling Liverpool’s investment from when they bought him from Stoke City in 2018. Of all these links, Sevilla seems the most unlikely, as they are already well stocked for wide options. It was only in January that the Andalusian outfit loaned Suso from AC Milan for 18 months, with an obligation to buy. Lucas Ocampos has had probably the best season of his career so far, while the club also have the likes of Munir, Nolito and Franco Vazquez available as wide options, and so they would probably need to sell one or two of those players to make room for Shaqiri in the squad. However, CSKA could be an interesting proposition. They usually play with two attacking midfielders in support of a lone striker, which is a role Shaqiri can play well, and with Nikola Vlasic being linked to a move to a European heavyweight, the Russian side may need someone to fill his creative and goalscoring boots.
In any case, it seems as if Shaqiri’s time at Anfield will soon be at an end. Despite becoming a fan favourite, he never truly established himself in the squad, and a player of his quality needs more sustained playing time, especially with the Euros being pushed to next year and Shaqiri being an important part of the Swiss squad.
