Xherdan Shaqiri Has Role to Play for Liverpool in Second Half of Season

Whatever happens for Liverpool in the transfer market this month, Xherdan Shaqiri won’t be leaving with the club believing the Swiss international has a role to play in the second half of the season and would need to be replaced if he were to depart.

That’s the story out of Switzerland’s 4-4-2 today, and it seems a fairly obvious conclusion—as does the suggestion that Shaqiri’s longer term future could lie away from Anfield, where he has struggled to find minutes since joining from Stoke City in 2018.

Much of that struggle, though, can be attributed to a series of injuries for the now 29-year-old forward, with the latest sidelining him for much of the autumn after a highly promising start to the season in the more advanced, left-sided midfield role.

Now fit again, it appears Shaqiri is ahead of both Takumi Minamino and Divock Origi in the substitute pecking order—though behind summer signing Diogo Jota, who while out of action at the moment could return later this month from a knee injury.

That may mean Shaqiri’s minutes will be limited, but not nearly to the extent of a player like Origi, who was recently linked with a January move to Inter Milan.