Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has stated that Lazar Markovic’s future is not with the Reds and that the Serbian will be allowed to leave if he finds a club. The 23-year-old joined us from Benfica for £20million but he failed to live up to his potential and has spent the majority of the last two seasons on loan.

The Serb did take part in the friendly win over Tranmere but he was not part of the squad that won the Premier League Asia Trophy in Hong Kong.

Klopp was speaking to the Liverpool Echo and despite stating that Markovic is in great shape, his time at Anfield has more or less come to an end.

“With Lazar, it’s no secret that if he finds a club then we will negotiate. It was like this last year too. He’s a really good player. I like him as a person. He’s now fit and another one who is in the best shape since I’ve known him. Before he had problems with his groin but now he’s good. There will be a club out there who needs him.”

After his first season with us, where he scored three goals for us, he was sent out to Fenerbahce and then Sporting Lisbon, where he again failed to light it up. His performances for Hull City in the second half of last season showed that Markovic still had it in him to play in the Premier League and if they had stayed in the Premier League, the Serbian would probably have found a club already.

The Serbian winger played in 12 Premier League games for the Tigers last season and scored a couple of goals for them. The problem has always been his final delivery and composure in front of goal. Had he worked on that, he could have been a great player for us.

Markovic was one of the brightest players when he joined us from Benfica and that was one reason why we paid over the odds for the 23-year-old. Sadly, as has been the case for a number of players joining us for big sums of money, Markovic couldn’t cut it out in the Premier League and the player does deserve to move in search of more regular football.

Hopefully, we can include a buy-back clause for whichever club he does join, as the 23-year-old is still young and can turn out to be a great player given his potential.

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