Liverpool journalist James Pearce appeared on the most recent edition of The Red Agenda podcast from The Athletic and spent some time talking about Reds winger Xherdan Shaqiri during the show.
Shaqiri was linked with a move away from Anfield during the most recent transfer window but the Swiss winger ultimately ended up staying at the Merseyside club.
He made his first Premier League appearance for Jurgen Klopp’s side since 15th July as a substitute for the Reds in their 2-1 win over West Ham United on Saturday and the 29-year-old managed to provide an assist for his team’s 85th-minute winning goal in that game.
With that in mind, it may not come as a big surprise that Pearce was full of praise for the £14.4m-rated man during this recent edition of The Red Agenda podcast, saying:
“I absolutely love watching him. He’s just a real rare breed, isn’t he, with that ability to create something out of nothing, just incredible intelligence as well as the breathtaking technique.
“Thank God he did stay put, because I remember – I think it was the night when Liverpool played Arsenal in the League Cup and Klopp confirmed afterwards that Shaqiri had been left out because transfer talks were going on in the background and [I] understand he had the option of moving to the Bundesliga.
“At that point, he was a long, long way down the pecking order and last season was just an absolute write-off for him, wasn’t it, really? I think he only started three games in all competitions and he just had a calf problem that he just couldn’t seem to shake off and I know it was devastating for him, the fact that every time he was on the verge of a comeback he would break down again.
“I’m really pleased that when he sat down and weighed it all up about a month ago now, that he decided that it would be a step down to leave Liverpool and he backed himself to force his way back into Klopp’s plans and I just think he gives Liverpool something different.”
Are you happy that Liverpool didn't sell Shaqiri?
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TIF Thoughts on what Pearce had to say about Shaqiri…
As the journalist alluded to, Shaqiri didn’t enjoy a very positive 2019/20 campaign. While his side won the Premier League title, the player spent the majority of the season sidelined after suffering a calf injury, as Pearce explained, with the winger making just 11 appearances for the Merseyside club in all competitions, seven of which came in the Premier League.
Given that he missed so much game time last season, perhaps it would be reasonable for Liverpool and the club’s fans to have some concerns over whether or not Shaqiri would be able to offer them much on the pitch this season.
The 29-year-old hasn’t featured a great deal so far this term, but it may be fair to say that he demonstrated what he can offer the side during his first Premier League appearance of the season last weekend, and so it may be understandable why Pearce spoke with such excitement about Shaqiri during this podcast – and if the player can get more regular game time from here on, then maybe the Reds will be glad that they didn’t ultimately end up selling Shaqiri.