Xherdan Shaqiri will be a name of importance on the Switzerland teamsheet when they take on heavily backed favourites France in the Last-16 of the UEFA European Championships on Monday.
The Liverpool winger has been in flying form for his country at this summer’s mega-event with two goals and an assist to his name in the three outings he has made so far as a regular in the starting XI for Vladimir Petković’s men.
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Drawing sharp contrasts to his international form, however, has been Shaqiri’s performances these past couple of seasons at club level while turning out for Jurgen Klopp’s Merseysiders.
Shaqiri has featured in just 21 Premier League matches across the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns with a majority of his appearances coming off the bench in the super-sub role allotted to him by Klopp.
However, since the summer transfer window has gotten underway this time around, talk has gained ground of the 29-year-old finally calling it quits on Merseyside amid interest brewing in the player from the likes of Lazio and AS Roma in the Serie A.
The former Stoke City man had rebuffed interest from Italy and Turkey last summer as he chose to stay put at Anfield and fight for a place in the first-team fold which boasts of attacking names in Mohammad Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.
Diogo Jota’s arrival from Wolves, moreover, led to Shaqiri falling further down the pecking order and Jota’s instant impact on the goalscoring front for his new side made him a favourite to displace the under-fire duo of Firmino and Mane in the lineup.
Shaqiri got double the involvement in league action last season, 14 outings as opposed to the seven he had been handed in Liverpool’s historic title-winning campaign in the 2019-20 season, but the Swiss international was unable to make the most of the minutes that came his way.
He failed to find the back of the net even once and with just two assists in his tally, Liverpool supporters were willing to accept that the player was now past his prime on Merseyside and should be one amongst a selected few who have been tipped to head out the exit door this summer.
Lazio have been claimed to be the frontrunners to land his signature soon after the conclusion of the Euros with the Italians having opened talks with Liverpool over a loan arrangement for the forward with Klopp understood to be open to offloading him ahead of the start of the forthcoming campaign.
Pocketing a decent fee for Shaqiri’s sale should be a priority for Liverpool who have a significantly smaller transfer kitty this time around but should the player be exiting on a loan arrangement, Klopp will have a vacancy in the first-team fold which can be filled by bringing in a new attacking name.
