Liverpool journalist Theo Squires has been sharing his thoughts on Reds winger Xherdan Shaqiri and his future at the Merseyside club.
This comes after Squires made an appearance on a recent episode of the Liverpool Echo’s Blood Red Podcast where he spoke about a range of topics concerning Jurgen Klopp’s side.
On the subject of Shaqiri and his future as a Liverpool player, Squires had this to say on the matter.
He said: “It’s one where if he wants to go, he’ll probably go – but we said that last summer, we said that the summer before, we say it every single transfer window.
“It’s if there is a suitable offer there for Liverpool to consider selling, and the only problem with that now is what a suitable offer would have been 18 months ago, could look very different because of the pandemic.
“But, if he wants to stay, happily let him stay, let him be the squad option, because he does make a difference. I’d much rather have him coming off the bench than a [Takumi] Minamino or Origi because he has got that proven quality, he has got that end result.”
Liverpool signed Shaqiri back in the 2018 summer transfer window from Championship club Stoke City for a fee of £13 million.
Since then, the 29-year-old, who is currently valued at £10.8 million, has made 63 appearances for the Reds across all competitions in which he has managed to score eight goals and provide nine assists along the way (per Transfermarkt).
TIF Thoughts on Theo Squires’ comments on Shaqiri and his future at Liverpool…
With Shaqiri having only made 14 appearances in the Premier League for Liverpool last season, starting just five of them, this does suggest that he is more of a backup squad option for Klopp rather than being a regular starter, which makes it understandable why the subject of his future at Anfield has been brought up once again.
Do you think Liverpool should sell Shaqiri this summer?
Yes
No
In our view, if Shaqiri is willing to see out the remainder of his current contract at Liverpool, which runs out in 2023, as a backup squad option, then the club should keep hold of him so Klopp can use him whenever he sees fit.
However, given his substantial injury record, it hasn’t always been guaranteed that the winger would be available when needed, which could well be the case for him going forward too, and should perhaps be a factor to take into consideration if the club have any doubts over his future.
In other news: ‘One very interesting thing’ – Journalist drops Kylian Mbappe claim at Liverpool