Liverpool boss Arne Slot is preparing for his maiden season in English football, but there have been no new signings so far in this summer transfer window.
The Reds were keen to sign Spain international Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad, having shown the readiness to trigger the player’s hefty £51.7 million buy-out clause. However, after taking some time to decide on his future, Martin Zubimendi came to the conclusion of rejecting the chance to move to Liverpool and staying put at his boyhood club.
It is now understood that Liverpool would not be pursuing alternative targets to the Real Sociedad star and it is unlikely that there would be any midfield reinforcements before the August 30 deadline. With no new acquisitions made, Liverpool are surprisingly ready to let a player leave in the final weeks of the transfer window.
According to a report from The Athletic, Liverpool are prepared to consider loan offers for Stefan Bajcetic before this month’s transfer deadline, despite their failure to sign a fresh defensive midfielder.
Stefan Bajcetic enjoyed an incredible breakthrough under former boss Jurgen Klopp, racking up 26 appearances across all competitions. There were high hopes from the young Spaniard heading into the 2023//24 campaign after a season in the senior team. However, things just didn’t go as per the way he would have thought.
The 19-year-old had a horrendous last season, missing the majority of playing time after constantly struggling with injury problems and fitness issues. Perhaps, the over-exposure in his breakout campaign resulted in early burnout and injuries the following year, limiting him to just three senior appearances across all formats for the Reds.
Now fully fit and raring to make a mark, Bajcetic was used well across the recently concluded pre-season games by Arne Slot. However, the youngster is not part of Slot’s preferred first XI, with the likes of experienced pros such as Alexis Mac Allister, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch seemingly ahead of him in the pecking order.
The aforementioned report says no clubs have been credited with an interest in the Spanish youth international yet, though it is quite clear that Slot and Liverpool would want Bajcetic to play at the highest level if he goes out on a dry loan.
After failing to build on his breakout season, owing to a glut of injuries, the 19-year-old needs regular game time and proper conditioning to get back to his peak fitness levels and that appears unlikely to happen in the upcoming 2024/25 campaign considering the intense competition for places in the middle of the park.
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Easing him into first-team action in cup games would have been the right approach, particularly with no signs of a new midfielder coming in after Zubimendi’s refusal, but it feels that the club want Bajcetic to go out on loan and get regular minutes.
