Amid the list of Liverpool success stories this season, there is one player whose personal fortunes have been at odds with his team-mates.
While the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Jordan Henderson – to name just three – have once more enjoyed stellar seasons for Jurgen Klopp, Xherdan Shaqiri is a player who is in stark contrast by comparison.
As Liverpool have won of Premier League games, the Switzerland international has more often than not been forced to play to the role of a background artist as the stars of the show have lapped up the adulation.
Just appearances to his name in all competitions, Shaqiri was last spotted at Tottenham on January 13, coming on as a time-sapping substitute for the final seconds of a 1-0 win.
His last start came in Qatar as the Reds squeezed past Monterrey in the Club World Cup semi-final, with his most recent appearance in a Premier League lineup coming in mid-December in a 2-0 win over Watford.
As Liverpool’s hopes and expectations have risen, Shaqiri’s involvement has dwindled.
In total this Premier League season, the former Stoke City man has been limited to just 175 minutes, with of them coming in a 5-2 win against Everton in December.
A further 28 came against Watford – his only other top-flight start this term – with the remaining time accumulated through a number of substitute cameos in the closing stages of matches.
It is surely nowhere near enough to pacify a player of international class. Injuries have more than played their part in that, of course.
The winger was allowed to fly back to his homeland earlier in the season as he worked hard at ridding himself of a troubling calf issue that would sideline him for over two months.
During that period of convalescence, Shaqiri was forced to sit out a dozen games.
It would have been a source of frustration for the Liverpool player to have missed so much when games against Genk – both home and away in the Champions League – and MK Dons and Arsenal in the Carabao Cup offered an otherwise reasonable expectation of selection.
The same can be said for his most recent spell on the shelf.
Shaqiri hasn’t kicked a ball for over two months and missed out on the FA Cup triumph against Everton in January before being ruled out of meetings with Shrewsbury Town and Chelsea in the same competition.
All told, it’s likely to have been a deepl y dispiriting year in the career of the creative frontman, even allowing for the very tangible success his team have experienced during this run.
“We never did, but this time for sure we cannot put any time pressure on it because it is obviously a difficult one, “ Klopp said when asked about Shaqiri’s latest ailment last month.
“It was never a big one but always big enough to keep him out for another two or three weeks. So, we just wait. He is not close to team training. “
With the Reds now left to do battle on just two fronts for the remainder of the campaign, Shaqiri
sightings are only likely to stay as infrequent as they have been so far.
The harsh truth surrounding the current set of circumstances is that Liverpool have played their way to just points from a Premier League title without serious help from the Swiss.
A bit-part player if there has been one at Anfield this term, his services have rarely been in demand.
Which may lead to the long-term question over whether they are required any further in the close season.
Interest, as it did in January, is expected to resurface as some high-profile parties attempt to sniff out a bargain in the same way Liverpool
Both Roma and Sevilla had advances turned away during the transfer window, but sporting director Michael Edwards will be more open to overtures during the summer months.
Anfield sources have privately insisted the bidding will open at £ 25 million, a sum that could provide a sizable injection of funds to Liverpool’s incomings in the summer window.
His exit will surely see a replacement chased, a versatile player capable of operating in a range of roles across the attack. A player, ironically, in the same mold of Shaqiri.
He was the right player at the wrong time, it would seem. Priced at just £ (m in the summer of
In a summer that also saw Fabinho, Naby Keita and Fabinho arrive, his signing from Stoke was the cherry on the cake. The side order with few recriminations.
An important part of the team that beat Barcelona in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final last May, it would be difficult to label Shaqiri as an Anfield flop, particularly given events that followed in Madrid.
An apparent no-brainer of a transfer has not worked out as planned for all concerned, though, it must be conceded.
A change may be in the offing this summer, giving the mercurial Shaqiri a clean break and a chance to kick-start a career that belongs on a higher level than two Premier League starts a season.
A parting of the ways, regrettably, looks inevitable this summer.
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