Former Liverpool goalkeeper Brad Friedel has hailed the decision to trigger Alisson Becker's one-year contract extension at Anfield.
And the former USA international believes the call to prolong the stay of Alisson is a smart one - despite the succession of injury troubles that have plagued him in recent years.
The Brazil international's agent Ze Maria confirmed last month that the club had chosen to extend the terms of their shot-stopper by an additional year, keeping him on Merseyside until 2027 as a result.
However, the former Roma star, who joined the Reds for £65m in the summer of 2018, has missed 20 Premier League games of the last two full campaigns and is currently sidelined with a muscle issue picked up just before the international break.
But despite the ongoing fitness issues that has seen Alisson also miss six league matches this season, Friedel says the long-serving Brazilian is still the best man for the job at Anfield.
"What a goalkeeper," Friedel told the ECHO. "[He's] a fantastic talent and one of the best in the world, without any question.
"I'm very happy this [one-year extension] was triggered as Alisson is going to be very hard to replace as such an outstanding person to have behind any defence.
"Yes there has been some injuries and he has missed games, but, being such a top goalkeeper, you want to have him with you for as long as possible.
"Yes, the club do need to start scouting, if they haven’t already, for a new No.1, when Alisson does depart, but for now, he is firmly my No.1 for the Liverpool."
Mamardashvili joined the club last summer in a £29m deal from Valencia that was organised the prior the summer.
Friedel has been impressed by what he has seen so far from the Georgia international but believes it is too early to say if he will be the long-term successor to Alisson.
"How good Mamardashvili can be is a difficult one to answer as we haven’t seen a lot of Giorgi and what we have, it’s going to take time for sure," said Friedel who made 25 of his 450 Premier League appearances for Liverpool between 1997 and 2000.
"How good can he be? Well, the main thing is how you deal with mistakes you make?
"Can you bounce back quickly and learn from them? How can you deal with playing many Premier League games on the bounce? Can you deal with playing Champions League football?
"These are so important for a goalkeeper now, to show you can play well consistently."
Friedel, who was speaking to ECHO via Gambling.com, who rank and compare top-rated UK gambling websites, also provided his take on Mohamed Salah's decision to leave the Reds after nine decorated years at the end of the season.
"It seems the right time for both parties I think," he said. "To offer the two year deal was very important as the club didn’t want to lose Trent [Alexander-Arnold] and Mo in the same summer, so with Mo staying this helped.
"Mo can now have the perfect send off to what has been an unbelievable career at Liverpool, one of the all time greats at the club with all his goals, assists, and medals.
"With Arne Slot making the signings he has done last summer, he can look to further implement his style as Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz can have have good pre-season together to be able to start next season stronger.
"Salah is up there with the likes of Sir Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush, for sure.
"As a supporter of Liverpool as well, I am upset he will be leaving, but we can enjoy him for a little while longer this season. All good things come to an end at some stage and he will be missed."
