Premier League leaders Liverpool have given Alisson Becker the number one shirt so what does this mean for Besiktas loanee Loris Karius?
It is fair to say Liverpool fans were not exactly waiting with baited breath to welcome Loris Karius back to Anfield.
After all, that Champions League final humiliation at the hands of Real Madrid is still fresh in the memory with Karius’s dismal loan spell at Besiktas only serving to give his reputation a further battering.
Alisson Becker has been Liverpool’s first-choice since his £67 million move from Roma last summer, as reported by the Guardian, but the Brazilian international is now the club’s number one in a literal sense, too.
The Reds broke the news on Thursday morning that Alisson will have a new shirt number next season; the one Karius had previously occupied before he moved to Turkey on loan.
The fact that you cannot even purchase a Karius-themed kit on Liverpool’s official website speaks volumes. According to the Mirror (22 March, page 56) Besiktas wanted to send the £4.7 million shot-stopper back to Anfield midway through his two-year loan but Jurgen Klopp will block his compatriot from returning to Merseyside.
With his shirt number gone, this could be the final nail in Karius’s coffin.
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