Sunday 7 July 2019 14:49, UK
Brazil’s Copa America final goalkeeper Alisson can make himself a Liverpool legend, one of the club’s all-time greats has said.
Five-time First Division winner Ray Clemence told Sky Sports the Brazilian's impact since he joined the club has been on a level with that of Virgil van Dijk, who is being tipped for to win this year's Ballon d'Or.
Alisson set a new club record for clean sheets in his first season at Anfield, as Liverpool finished a point off the Premier League title and won the Champions League, with his tally the second best in the division's history.
He will now look to add a Copa America medal with his country - Brazil's first since 2007 if they can beat Peru on Sunday night - to cap an impressive season between the sticks.
Clemence said the 26-year-old's performances had left him in little doubt of his quality - and that he could stand alongside Liverpool's greatest players if he kept to those high standards.
"He's proved this year he's a great goalkeeper," he told Sky Sports. "Truly great ones, the legends, continue to do that for the next five, 10 years.
"The word legend is thrown out without thinking, some of the players I was lucky to play with did it for six, seven, eight, 10 years - and that's why they are so revered at Liverpool.
"But he's had a great start. With foreign players, it's partly down to how long they and their families want to stay at a club. Hopefully yes, but only they can make that call."
The role of goalkeeper has been a problem position for Liverpool since the departure of Pepe Reina in 2014, with Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius both unable to consistently convince in the position of number one Anfield.
So what has been different in what Alisson has brought to Liverpool over the past season?
"He deserves all the accolades because of what he did last year," Clemence said. "I've not met him yet, hopefully I will at some stage, but he seems a very level-headed goalkeeper, not over-confident, but he's got a good balance.
"He never seems to get flustered, the great goalkeepers always look in control of every situation. He has that ability to make saves other goalkeepers can't make. But the great goalkeepers make the saves when the game's tight, to keep them in it."
Ray Clemence was talking to Sky Sports at the launch of the Official Story of Liverpool's 2018/19 season, which you can order here.
