Recently, Alisson Becker the record signing goalkeeper for Liverpool FC made a comment about the expectancy of his game to be perfect by the watching enthusiasts. Now this can only raise an obvious question.. Does a high price tag defines the true value and quality of a goalkeeper?

As there’s so much cash flow in the top tier of world football ( whether justifiable or not is up for debate.. ) the pressure of expectations is beginning to tell on some of the football’s elite players, more so for goalkeepers who are expected to match their price tags. Over the past decade, high price tagged goalkeepers have struggled in the first and second seasons of performing to the standard of expectations and this can be attributed to a number of reasons –

• The goalkeepers age (the market values youthfulness)
• The goalkeepers technical abilities and overall persona
• The market price valuation

The last great goalkeeper who was able to match all criteria prior to the last decade was Gianluigi Buffon. Juventus FC bought him from Parma FC in 2001 for a whopping £32M, but he was able to focus on his game and his confidence grew because he knew what was expected of himself first ahead of any price tag labelled on him. He was a great shot stopper and reader of the game but what made him stood out and added value to his game was his character. It can be argued that even goalkeepers like Peter Schmeichel (who was a £505,000 bargain of the century by Manchester United from Brondby FC) and the legendary Oliver Kahn of Bayern Munich had even bigger characters that enhanced and influenced not only their game but their teammates alike. It seems the common denominator here is strength and character. When David De Gea was drafted into the Manchester United squad for £18.9M back in 2011, it took him 2 seasons to adjust to the price tag that was labelled on him as his performances did nothing at all to reflect this. Now after 8 seasons he’s considered currently the best goalkeeper on the planet, which adds to the debate. If it took 8 seasons to be considered as one of the greats (debatable) on his price tag, then how long would it take the current most expensive goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga of Chelsea FC, who arrived from Athletic Bilbao for a record fee of £71.6M to be considered as the best goalkeeper if we are meant to accurately access performances based on high price tags? Although he is still young ( 24 years of age ) he still has a long way to go to bridge the price tag gap in my humble goalkeeping opinion. A lot of work has to be done on his set-positioning and less swinging movement of the arms.

Despite all these assessments, it must be noted that all these high price tag goalkeepers play with high price tag defences, which in effect creates the opportunity to enhance their overall game. This is so much evident with top attacking teams like Manchester City FC, where the goalkeeper is required to start the attacking phases with quality distribution. Ederson Santana de Moraes snapped up from Benfica FC for £35M, seems to be the current master of this form of goalkeeping philosophy ( it also must be noted that it’s rumoured he was a midfielder before the transition to goalkeeping, giving him an edge in distribution and composure ). As a high price tag goalkeeper, when you play behind a solid defence one is rarely called upon to make saves but when the time comes, this is where the debate embroils because most of the time it’s a 50/50 call on any given situation in comparison to the lesser or lower valued goalkeepers in the same league.

So, the reoccurring question is – Is it logical to assess goalkeepers performances based on their high price tags? If not, then is it also logical to attribute the high price tag relative to the quality and marketing value of the club’s they represent? Or are the high price tag Soley based on financial long term investments? Whatever the reasons the modern day goalkeeper knows what challenges are ahead of them regardless, which means knuckle down, embrace all criticism and applauds because they serve as a solid foundation to growth and development.

You Are The Ultimate Keeper Of Your Destiny… ULTIMATE KEEPER