Earlier this summer, Newcastle United tried their best to sign Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia.
At the time, the La Liga club were asking for something approaching €35-40m, and Marca report they never got near that. There was a belief at Valencia that their goalkeeper is one of the best in the world and should be valued accordingly.
Then Euro 2024 came and Mamardashvili was one of the stars of the group stage, saving Georgia on multiple occasions. At one point there was talk of the stopper being worth as much as €60m.
However, players are only worth what clubs will pay for them. Valencia’s struggling status and a lack of Champions League football may have played against Mamardashvili’s value.
Around about now would be a good time for Newcastle United to reach a deal. That is highly unlikely, though, given the Magpies have signed Odysseas Vlachodimos for a big fee in the current market.
So over at Valencia they’ve got the rather awkward situation of Mamardashvili now being set to compete in preseason with the man who should have been his replacement, Stole Dimitrievski.
The latter is said to have been ‘outstanding’ in a friendly against PSV at the weekend.
Earlier insistence from Valencia that Stole Dimitrievski was bought as competition and not as a replacement is largely dismissed by Marca, who say the goalkeeper – who arrived as a free agent – secured a €3m to leave this summer if Mamardashvili doesn’t go.
Again, now would be an ideal time for Newcastle United to swoop if they hadn’t bought Vlachodimos.
