Xherdan Shaqiri — A Misunderstood Genius
Four times did we see Switzerland play in Russia during the past four weeks. Four times did we watch Shaqiri command the Swiss national team past a group that featured Brazil, Serbia and Costa Rica. Now, with the World Cup almost over and his club side relegated, not everything looks dim for the pacy winger, who seems to be on the verge of joining England’s giants Liverpool.
And that is nothing new. Not the fact that Xherdan is linked with the Reds, which to some extent can be classified as a new entry on his resumé, but the idea of Shaqiri moving to another club, once again.
Shaqiri the man, while probably not Iniesta-humble, doesn’t appear to be too cocky to be a legit problem wherever he finds himself playing at. Sure, the perception is that of a guy who doesn’t care enough and who is never going to give it all for his side, but even with that his quality and determination can’t be denied.
At just 26 years of age, it already feels like he’s been around forever, though. Loyal to the team that gave him his first taste of professional football, Xherdan played for Swiss-club Basel until 2012, making his debut in 2009 while losing against St. Galen by 2–0. It took four months for him to score his first goal, although he would go on to end his Switzerland-based career at an 18 goals mark in 92 matches for Basel.
Built like a walking-muscle since his early days, his production at Basel’s right wing caught Jupp Heynckes’ attention and in the summer of 2012 he became one of the new Bayern poster boys along with Javi Martinez and Mario Mandzukic, who arrived on the Bavarian team that would firmly march through the season to finish it winning the first treble in club’s history, with Shaqiri adding the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League to his personal trophy cabinet at only 21 years of age. He featured on 39 games scoring up to 8 goals, stepping up his level of play for the German team.
With all the success came the expectations, and, for lack of a better expression, we can say those were not quite fulfilled. Yes, Xherdan keep being a somehow important part of Bayern Munich–to the extent that can be stated, given the magnitude of such a club–, although he saw his production dip and less than two years after the magical season he experienced when he first stepped on the Allianz Arena’s turf, he was departing for Italy’s side Inter Milan.
The Nerazurri–huge on their own–bought him mid-season in order to patch a team that was under performing, and ultimately they got rid of him at the end of the season. Shaqiri was again on the move, this time with sights in England. Stoke bet on him, and after three years he has played the same number of games for the English side that he did for Basel (92) while scoring 15 goals.
With Stoke being relegated to the Championship–and Shaqiri’s own contribution to the situation he’s in after putting out some dubious words about the team’s quality–, it may be time for the inspiring winger to take another flight, only this one would be–again–of much better class than the last one.
After a rather good showcase in Russia (with one goal and one assist to his name) where we have watched him on the Swiss right flank, pairing mostly with the likes of Behrami and Xhaka on the midfield, and making runs up and down the pitch, it cannot be negated that Xherdan could be more than good enough to become the B-man to Salah’s A-role at Liverpool, even more at the price the Reds can get him given how the market goes nowadays.
Shaqiri may not be your Messi although he’s his height or less. He may not be your Lukaku although he outmuscles him. He probably was never meant to be a star on an already star-stacked team, but he’s classy enough to be someone to reckon with on a big side, if put in the right position. Xherdan time is now, and Merseyside may be lucky to witness it.
