5 things you didn't know about new Liverpool signing Xherdan Shaqiri
Premier League side Liverpool Football Club completed the signing of Swiss international Xherdan Shaqiri from the recently relegated side Stoke City on Friday after the Merseyside club activated the player's release clause which is said to be slightly more than £13 million.
The 26-year-old is the third signing made my the Jurgen Klopp-managed side this summer after Naby Keita and Fabinho. Shaqiri will be joining his new team for the US tour that is scheduled to start on the 22nd of July.
The Liverpool faithful are left divided on their club's latest purchase as many believe his attitude on the ground is not good enough for a club like Liverpool which is managed by a coach like Klopp and the others believe this deal to be a bargain as the player has come cheap.
All the doubts and questions can only be answered when the attacker steps on the field as a Liverpool player. For now, let's have a look at five things that you probably didn't know about Shaqiri:
#5 Cut short his holiday to sign for Liverpool
One thing you probably know about Shaqiri, unless you haven't been living under a rock for the past month, is that he was a really important part of the Switzerland national football team that took part in the World Cup at Russia. The Alpine Messi, as he is nicknamed, bagged one goal (which ended up causing a lot of controversy for the celebration he did) and an assist during the tournament.
However, the Swiss team saw their World Cup campaign come to an end after facing a 1-0 defeat against Sweden in the pre-quarters. This heartbreak meant that the players could go on vacation as they have been working tirelessly since the beginning of the season and it is mandatory that players get a time off before they start the new season. But all that didn't matter to Shaqiri.
Just nine days after being knocked out of the World Cup, the attacker flew into Merseyside to get the deal done and officially be a Liverpool player. Ironically, many Reds fans had judged him to be lazy and this act of Shaqiri says the opposite.
Immediately after completing the procedures, the player has gone to the United States for his holidays. Again US has been chosen so that he could join the team there.