There may have been hugs after the Champions League final and words of support from teammates and Jurgen Klopp the Liverpool manager, but Loris Karius has paid the price for his two errors against Real Madrid and joined Turkish side Besiktas.
The deal will see the 25 year old move to Turkey for a 2 year loan period and there might also be an extension to that deal with a chance to buy. What is clear is that Liverpool have said goodbye to their keeper, 3 months after the Champions League final where the German was clearly at fault for two huge errors in Madrid’s goals. Those mistakes proved too costly as Real Madrid went on to win their 3rd straight Champions League final in a 3-1 win. The errors were so amateur that a few days later Karius was checked over in America for concussion after a clash with Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos.
Liverpool were quick to put out a statement that indeed Karius did receive mild concussion that night and that was the reason he made the mistakes. But one could wonder if this statement and the latest loan deal isn’t at odds with one another. Anyhow this is the latest move by Liverpool in their aggressive attempts to forget about last season and try and land manager Klopp his first trophy since taking over the club three seasons ago.
Karius was replaced by Brazil’s Alisson for a then world record transfer fee of £69m for a goalkeeper. Chelsea beat that by a few million days after when they signed Kepa from Athletic Bilbao. But the statement of intent has been clear and has seen Klopp spend nearly £200m in the summer far and away the most in the Premier League.
For Karius he was all smiles as he completed his medical and with Besiktas he will be hoping to regain some much needed confidence. The team got a positive result in their first leg Europa League play off last week and look like favourites now to qualify for the competition proper. This move despite how it has come about looks like a good call for Karius who can try to rebuild his career rather than being Liverpool’s number 3 goalkeeper, that is how far he had gone down the pecking order in 90 days.
Karius was just one game short of making 50 appearances for the Reds and his new team could meet Liverpool this season. It would mean Liverpool finishing 3rd in their Champions League group, dropping down to the Europa League which Besiktas still need to qualify for and possibly meeting in the knock out games. Far fetched for sure, but stranger things have happened in football.
France began life at home after winning their second World Cup with a hard-earned win over the Netherlands, who failed to qualify for this summer’s tournament. It seemed fitting that the first goalscorer was none other than PSG forward Kylian Mbappe, who won the “Best Young Player” award in Russia. His work rate wearing the blue of his national team is every bit as impressive as it is in the Parisian home kit, and he timed his run perfectly to get onto the end of Blaise Matuidi‘s lovely pass across the face of goal, tapping France ahead after 13 minutes. Didier Deschamps’ men were ahead until the second half, when Besiktas’ Ryan Babel brought the Dutch level. It wasn’t long until Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud restored the lead and ultimately won it for France.
