da dobrowin： Liverpool had made an enquiry to Egyptian club Al Ahly about the possibility of signing goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy prior to signing free agent Adrian this week.
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Read Liverpool reported that the Champions League winners had made contact with Al Ahly about a possible transfer for the 30-year-old Egypt international, who could be available for as little as £3.5million.
According to Read Liverpool, two other Premier League clubs had also shown an interest in El Shenawy, with Arsenal and Aston Villa both monitoring the goalkeeper.
It has been a busy week in the Liverpool goalkeeping department, with Adrian joining shortly after Simon Mignolet ended his six-year stay at Anfield by leaving for Club Brugge.
El Shenawy has spent his entire career in his homeland, turning out for Al Ahly, Tala’ea El Gaish, Harras El Hodoud and Petrojet.
In a 227-game club career, he has conceded just under a goal per game (220) and kept 90 clean sheets (39.6% of club appearances).
He played 31 times for Al Ahly last season, recording 18 clean sheets (58% of appearances) and conceding just 18 goals (0.58 per game). He was only beaten 11 times in 23 league games, a concession rate of just 0.48 per game.
His record at international level is 12 goals conceded in 14 caps (0.86 per game). This is reduced to eight goals in 10 competitive caps (0.8 per game) when friendlies are taken out of the equation.
He was named the official Man of the Match in Egypt’s 0-1 loss to Uruguay at last year’s World Cup, which was only his fourth senior cap. His penalty record is not so flattering, though, with only five of 38 saved (13.1%).
In six years at West Ham, Adrian conceded 215 goals, only five fewer than El Shenawy in his whole club career. The Spaniard kept 43 clean sheets in 150 appearances for the Hammers, conceding 1.43 goals per game and recording a 28.67% shutout rate.
Adrian has the better penalty save record of the two goalkeepers, though, stopping five of 22 spot kicks faced (22.7%) and memorably scoring the winning penalty in an FA Cup shoot-out win against Everton in 2015.
He has made seven errors leading to goals in the Premier League (one per 21.43 games), not a bad record considering that Alisson has had three in 38 league games for the Reds (one per 12.67 games).
While El Shenawy’s figures are clearly better on the surface than Adrian’s, they come with the caveat of playing in Egypt, whereas Adrian has spent his entire career in La Liga and the Premier League.
Also, with Alisson being first choice, Adrian coming on board and Caoimhin Kelleher due to come back from injury, El Shenawy would likely find opportunities at Anfield extremely limited, so there seems no need for him to be added to Liverpool’s squad.
Liverpool fans, what are your thoughts on the club’s enquiries about El Shenawy? Join in the discussion by commenting below!