Yes, you read that headline right - Loris Karius is still at Liverpool.
The German goalkeeper, 28, will forever be remembered by Reds fans for making two calamitous errors in the Champions League final against Real Madrid four years ago: rolling the ball on to Karim Benzema's foot for the opening goal and spilling Gareth Bale's tame shot for the last. It amounted to a 3-1 defeat.
Karius' football career has struggled since - yet all is not lost.
His existing deal expires this summer and he is set to resurrect a stalled career elsewhere. Here, Mirror Football takes a look at Karius' footballing career since that famous game in Kyiv.
Concussion to blame
In the days and weeks after Liverpool's defeat to Real, the club confirmed Karius was recovering from concussion.
He'd suffered a blow to the head during the final following a collision with Sergio Ramos - before both mistakes - having a devastating impact on his performance.
"I know a concussion isn’t coming and going in a day – if you have one, you see it days later," admitted Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp in July 2018. "Five days after the final, Loris had 26 of 30 markers for a concussion still. That’s clear.
"If you ask Loris, he says he didn’t think about it and didn’t use it for a second as an excuse. We don’t use it as an excuse, we use it as an explanation. That’s always important, that’s what analysis should be: you explain why things happen. So, from this point of view, from my side everything is fine. We don’t think about that anymore and we start completely new."
Even if concussion was to blame for Karius' mistakes, it was obvious he wasn't good enough to be Liverpool's first-choice goalkeeper. The German was unconvincing throughout his first two seasons at Anfield, struggling to nail down a place ahead of Simon Mignolet.
Klopp knew this and splashed out £66.8million on Roma stopper Alisson. "The opportunity to sign one of the world's best goalkeepers," admitted the Liverpool boss. "The owners were quite excited, so we did it."
Karius was left with a decision to make - stay and fight for his place against "one of the world's best goalkeepers" or choose to continue his career elsewhere. It was a no brainer.
Struggles continue on loan
Will Loris Karius become one of the best goalkeepers in Europe? Let us know in the comments below!
Karius joined Besiktas on a two-year loan deal in August 2018. Statistically, at least, his time in Turkey wasn't that bad. He made 67 appearances in all competitions during those two seasons, helping Besiktas finished third in consecutive seasons in the league.
Yet he made two well-publicised mistakes in the Europa League and his loan deal was cut short following a pay dispute. "I was very patient for months telling the board over and over again," Karius wrote on Instagram. "Same things happened already last year."
With two years still to run on his Liverpool contract, Karius was forced to agree another loan deal. This time it was with German minnows Union Berlin, giving him the chance to prove himself in the Bundesliga once again.
"Union is a special club, one that has earned a great deal of respect, not just by promotion to the Bundesliga," said Karius. "I would like to play my part in this positive development and help to achieve the great goal of staying in the Bundesliga."
Union did stay up - finishing in an impressive seventh to qualify for Europe - yet Karius had little do with their success. He played just four Bundesliga games and his loan deal was not made permanent at the end of the season. His career remained in limbo.
Frozen out at Liverpool
Karius returned to Anfield last summer, knowing there was just a year left on his contract. All parties would've preferred for him to leave Liverpool, yet a deal couldn't be reached. He was left to become Klopp's fifth-choice stopper, not playing a single minute this term.
"He [Karius] is a really good shape," said Klopp in January. "He is training really hard and he is fully committed. That is clear. Before the season we made a decision and obviously it was in the club’s interest as well that Loris finds a new club but that didn’t happen.
"We made a decision that he will be treated completely normally. As long as we don’t have a massive situation here our No 1 is Ali, our No 2 is Caoimhin [Kelleher], No 3 is Adrian and No 4 is Marcelo [Pitaluga]. That is already four goalkeepers and we were never in a situation where we had to use a fifth one.
"It is nothing to do with the quality; we made the decision and the boys do really well... I wish Loris only the best and he will find a club whether it is now or in the summer and from there he will go on, I’m very sure."
Karius couldn't find a club in January, meaning he's spent the entire season training with his fellow goalkeepers and showing off his modelling skills on Instagram. His page has attracted more than 1.8m followers - a decent fan base by anyone's standards.
The end of the German's turbulent Liverpool tale will be poetic, as they face Real in the Champions League final. Although he'll play no part in the showpiece event in Paris, it's still a fascinating way for his Anfield story to conclude.
Karius might even get on the pitch if Liverpool are to celebrate with the European Cup, four years after his nightmare in Kyiv.
It will be a truly emotional moment if that scenario unfolds, giving the stopper the redemption his career needs. The stage is set for a fascinating subplot.
