Loris Karius set to return to Liverpool after Turkey stint
Besiktas have decided not to exercise their option to buy the goalkeeper, The Athletic reports. Alisson and Adrián stand in the way of a place in the side.
For Loris Karius, things have been anything but easy since that fateful day in Kiev, 26 May 2018. Two errors by the keeper cost Liverpool in the Champions League final against Real Madrid. Afterwards, Jürgen Klopp initally tried to soften the blow by publicly stating his faith in the goalkeeper - but it was clear that if they were ever going to win anything, Liverpool needed to sign a world class goalkeeper. Even Simon Mignolet, who Karius had usurped for the latter part of that season, wasn't quite up to scratch.
Alisson and Adrián, Liverpool's guardians
Behind every great team, there is always a great goalkeeper - Casillas, Kahn, Schmeichel, Buffon, Cech, Zoff, Maier... That summer, Liverpool spent 62.5 million euros on bringing Brazil international Alisson Becker to Anfield. Karius, who had played some of the team's pre-season's friendlies, was taken out of the limelight and sent to Turkey to join Besiktas on loan.
However in the Süper Lig, Karius hasn't been able to rebuild his career and according to several Turkish newspapers, Besiktas have tried to cancel the loan several times but without success. Now, according to The Athletic, the German keeper will return to Anfield once the loan arrangement ends because Besiktas will not trigger the clause to buy the player for 8 million euros this summer. Both Liverpool and Karius have been informed of the decision.
While not everyone in Istanbul may have been happy with Karius, he is still Sergen Yalcin's first choice in the Besiktas goal. The keeper has played 28 games and conceded 42 goals in three competitions (League, Cup and Europa League). Karius is believed to have another year to run on his contract at Liverpool (some sources claim he will be a free agent this summer) but if he does return to Merseyside, he would find it almost impossible to dislodge the well established Alisson and Adrián.