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It was around 45 minutes before the Europa League final, that most torrid of evenings, when Liverpool fans finally remembered Javier Mascherano.

The stadium DJ at St-Jakob Park was rifling through his Soccerpop playlist, eventually reaching one of the classics: Seven Nation Army, by the White Stripes. What followed was an unspoken acknowledgement by the sizeable contingent behind the goal, who had started to filter from the Basel bars.

Unspoken, but sung; sung like it was for three years at Anfield. His name, Javier Mascherano, in rhythm with the beat. A pop song destined to become a football chant. Liverpool fans did not need a second invitation.

Yet the impromptu Swiss singalong was one of the few times the Argentine has been recognised by Kopites since his departure.

He is never recognised vocally. Supporters rattle through the songbook on a routine afternoon at Anfield - Steven Gerrard, Kenny Dalglish, Luis Garcia, Maxi Rodriguez all having their names aired – but Mascherano’s is nowhere to be heard.

He is rarely recognised in any other fashion, either. There is little fawning over social media, little clamour to see him back in a red shirt.

Talk about a departed midfielder from the late 2000s, and the bearded, suave Xabi Alonso is remembered.

Talk about a player revered on Merseyside, who left for Barcelona and has since won an assembly of trophies, and Luis Suarez is thought about with a nostalgic sigh.

No one talks about Mascherano, a player who featured 139 times for Liverpool, their best performer in a Champions League final, and a crucial part of their title-challenging side; a player who, having converted from midfield to defence, has lifted 15 trophies at one of the world’s biggest clubs, including four La Liga titles and two Champions League wins.

That’s only domestically, too. He is the only player to win two Olympic gold medals; he has also played in Copa America finals, and the World Cup final.

At that World Cup in 2014, he was on the shortlist for the tournament’s best player, playing every minute of the runner-ups’ campaign. In the semi-final, he would tear his anus making a crucial, goal-saving block on Arjen Robben.

An impressive list of accolades and ailments, and one that leads to an inescapable question: Is Mascherano one of the most underrated players of the past decade?

He was at Liverpool. Alonso was the orchestra, Gerrard was the star; what purpose, then, did the Argentine serve in Rafael Benitez’s midfield? He did not have the class of Alonso, nor the transcendental nature of the captain.

He brought something other, though. A tenacity, a desire, a consistency. If the forward players of Benitez’s meticulous system had been breached, Mascherano was a formidable barrier ahead of the defence. Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia, amongst others, were credited for the Spaniard’s superb defensive structure, but as much of it was because of Mascherano.

His partnership with Alonso was close to perfect. His bond with the Kop as strong as his challenges, his scampering, terrier-like nature easy to take to. For 90 minutes, he was relentless. For less than £20m, he represented a world class buy.

Yet, he never quite reached the adoration of Alonso. It is not a contest, but it often becomes one. Perhaps a 30-yard pass excites more than a crunching challenge in the modern game.

Alonso was inherently cool, Mascherano the ultimate snarler. Alonso is effortless, picture perfect for a magazine front cover; Mascherano will never grace the front cover for his beauty, he will never appear in a black-and-white still, for he is all bulging veins and profanities.

On the pitch, that is. Off it, the 32-year-old – he celebrated his birthday today – is said to be eloquent, thoughtful, genuine. All the more impressive, then, he can transform into what he is on the field.

He still holds Liverpool close to his heart. After beating Manchester United in the 2011 Champions League final, he said: “I know Liverpool supporters were a little bit sad with me after my exit, this is for them as well.”

What he alludes to, perhaps, has also seen him fade into history more than he should have done.

In the face of interest from Barcelona, Liverpool had refused to lose both Alonso and Mascherano the summer of 2009 - but a year on, with the club in further financial trouble, they could not deny him again. Roy Hodgson intimated Mascherano was not in the right frame of mind when Barca came back for him, pushing the departing South American under a bus en route to Camp Nou.

“When I went back to Liverpool for pre-season I had a lot of meetings with them, and they were promising a lot of things to me but never kept their word,” he explained in 2014.

“I did not wake up one day and refuse to play. In the game before Manchester City, we played against Arsenal and I gave everything because I was wearing the Liverpool shirt.

“We had been talking about completing the transfer for 20 days because the club also wanted to make it happen, but then they started to make things difficult for me.

“The people treated me really well and I would never want to let them down.

“I wanted to leave in another way, but they didn’t give me the chance to.”

And yet, none of that should matter when remembering what he did for the Reds during his time on Merseyside. It was not a career full of moments – two goals over five seasons, three if counting his Goodison strike in 2009 - but that should not make him any less memorable.

Mascherano himself wouldn’t mind that, necessarily. “I’ve never followed fashion, I’m atypical,” he once said. “I only enjoy the game of football, training, trying to improve myself, not the fame or the other side effects. I don’t like being famous; not being able to go for a walk or something and having to stay at home.”

It was thought he would enjoy his football elsewhere next season, with a move to Juventus looking imminent. After six seasons and nearly 300 games for the Catalans, a change was needed.

But Barca have now told of their desire to keep him at the club, leading to Mascherano admitting he wouldn’t force an exit from the Spanish champions.

If the time comes for him to depart, however, Liverpool should take note.

As good as he was for Liverpool back then, he could still fulfil a role now.

The Reds need leaders, character, a midfield general. Granted, he has spent six years at the back for Barcelona, but still operates in midfield for Argentina.

Gary McAllister, somebody who ticked a number of those boxes, has recently spoken of how Jurgen Klopp needs to bring a bit of experience into the side. “If there’s an opportunity to bring the right one in,” he told the ECHO, “then it will always add to the squad.”

It might seem a pie-in-the-sky suggestion. Coming back to Anfield is unlikely, especially with Champions League clubs interested, but no less improbable than West Ham bringing him to the Premier League back in 2006.

It is something the club should think about. Or, at the very least, find somebody in the Mascherano mould to bring to the club. They need a Mascherano more than an Alonso, right now.

In the midst of Alonso, Gerrard, Carragher, Pepe Reina and Fernando Torres, the Argentine became the world class performer Liverpool forgot about.

Maybe they should reacquaint themselves with him, or somebody like him, as soon as they can.