Who is Liverpool's most important player? That question is often one that massively splits opinion and rightly so given the Reds have been hugely successful over the past few years under the leadership of Jurgen Klopp.
How can you choose who the most important player is when the team is packed full with stars such as Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Thiago Alcantara? It's a difficult task, but one man has really elevated himself to the very top, especially after his displays during the whole of last season.
Alisson Becker was thought of as the final piece of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool puzzle after his arrival from AS Roma in the summer of 2018 for what was a record transfer fee of £65 million for a goalkeeper and he proved to be that and then some.
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Perhaps a shock from the season before the signing of Alisson was Liverpool joining Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Kyiv. The Reds had battled past Manchester City with ease and then put five past the Brazilian goalkeeper at Anfield in the semi-final on their route to the final.
With Virgil van Dijk signing in January 2018, he brought so much to a leaky defence, but there's only so much a defender can do. Sky Sports pundit, Gary Neville, once said: "You can't win league titles without a world-class goalkeeper" and he was right.
Liverpool were beaten 3-1 in Kyiv after Loris Karius had a game to forget and focus immediately switched to who Klopp would turn to in order to improve his goalkeeping options. But with Real Madrid themselves weighing up a move for Alisson and the Reds not wanting to engage in a bidding war, Danny Ward was initially set to be handed the chance to stake his claim.
But then it all changed.
With Real moving for Thibault Courtoise from Chelsea, Liverpool quickly agreed a record fee with Roma for Alisson and what happened later confirmed why it was good business. Liverpool won the Champions League with the 'keeper being awarded Man of the Match in the 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the final in Madrid. And in the following campaign, things got even better as Liverpool won their first league title in 30 years.
Last season, Liverpool fought of four fronts to try and become the greatest English side in the history of football and Alisson was among the top performers in the side and won his second Golden Glove award since his arrival in England. Can the goalkeeper go up yet another level next season as the Reds go in search of a 20th league title?
Alisson's performances last term recently earned him praise from former Red Brad Friedel, who said the goalkeeper could be considered at the best to have ever graced the Premier League. He's right.
The Brazilian has everything. He's calm under pressure with excellent handling. His distribution is superb and has there ever been anyone as successful in one-on-one battles with strikers than Alisson? It's doubtful.
Time and time again, Alisson saved Liverpool and the humble star insists it's just his 'job' to do so. The goalkeeper was rewarded with a place in the PFA Team of the Year, but it could be argued that he should've been on the shortlist for the PFA Player of the Year award.
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