Fulham 2-2 Liverpool: Match Review
The well-regarded midfielder is yet to make an appearance for Liverpool this season.
Stefan Bajcetic suffered a fresh blow in his pursuit to return to Liverpool fitness.
The midfielder has endured a frustrating period with injuries over the past few years. Bajcetic enjoyed a fine first-team breakthrough at the Reds in the 2022-23 season. He made 19 appearances, scoring one goal and became a regular starter in the engine room.
However, before a Champions League last-16 second-leg clash against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, Bajcetic sustained an adductor injury. He was plagued with the issue for the majority of the 2023-24 campaign, managing to play just two matches.
Last term, he was loaned to Red Bull Salzburg but that agreement was ended after Pep Lijnders, the assistant to former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, was sacked as head coach. Bajcetic transferred to Spanish club Las Palmas where he got the regular action he craved despite the Gran Canaria-based side's relegation from La Liga. Two weeks before the campaign ended, the Spain under-21 international picked up a hamstring issue that required surgery in the summer.
Liverpool have likely been cautious with Bajcetic's return. According to The Athletic, the 21-year-old had hoped to return to training in December before picking up a fresh hamstring problem.
Bajcetic - signed from Celta Vigo for just £220,000 in 2020, is reportedly unlikely to be available until the end of January, ruling out out any potential loan departure. It is likely that Bajcetic will get minutes for Liverpool under-21s before he is even considered for first-team action. Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones, Alexis Mac Allister and Wataru Endo are all ahead for a holding-midfield role, while 18-year-old Trey Nyoni has made two substitute appearances in the Premier League this season.
Speaking after Bajcetic joined Salzburg, Liverpool head coach Slot hoped that the midfielder could become a serious option in the future. Slot said: “I hope it will be a big year for him because he’s a very talented player and I think he could become a very important player for us, but only if he gets playing time now.
“If you are that young and you’ve been out for so long, the only thing you need is playing time. He could have playing time over here, but we’ve got six or seven very good midfielders, so his playing time here will always be more limited than we expect him to play at Salzburg.
“So for him, and us, we think it’s best for him to play at the moment, instead of maybe playing a few times and then being on the bench for a long time again. It’s very difficult to keep a player fit who’s been out for 15 months when you only play him once in a while.
“So this is for the long term. Again, this club has been smart, in my opinion, in the past for not only looking for the short term, but also the long term. It’s a smart decision, at least in our opinion, to let him go somewhere, where he will hopefully play a lot of games.
“Then for next season, we’ll have a player. If he fulfils his potential, [he] could definitely, definitely play for us in the future.”
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