Where is Stefan Bajcetic? It is a question many fans have been asking throughout the season, with little in the way of an answer.
May 5, 2026 marks two years since the Spaniard’s last appearance for Liverpool’s first team: just under half an hour on the pitch in a 4-2 win over Tottenham at Anfield.
It was his first senior game since September 2023’s two outings at right-back, with only a handful of U21s games in between as he contended with a series of growth-related injuries.
Jurgen Klopp described those 26 minutes against Tottenham as like being “on the motorway with your bicycle.”
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Sunday, May 5, 2024: Jurgen Klopp Manager of Liverpool talks to Stefan Bajcetic of Liverpool the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at Anfield. (Photo by Ryan Brown/Propaganda)
Still, it provided a fleeting glimpse of what Bajcetic could offer. He made 16 touches, completing seven of his 10 attempted passes, made four tackles and won six of his nine duels (67%).
He has not been entirely absent since then, of course, with last season taking in spells on loan at Salzburg (19 appearances) and Las Palmas (14) before a serious hamstring injury curtailed his stay with the latter.
Bajcetic underwent surgery around a year ago and has not been involved at any level since. So where is he?
Where is Stefan Bajcetic in terms of his recovery?
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Sunday, October 19, 2025: Stefan Bajcetic sits behind the Liverpool bench during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Manchester United FC at Anfield. Man Utd won 2-1. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
This Is Anfield understands Bajcetic is still working in the gym as part of his rehabilitation, following a setback in his recovery earlier in the year.
He is not understood to have returned to outdoor work at the AXA Training Centre as of yet, even with individual sessions, and he is not close to rejoining team training.
It has, therefore, been another lost season.
Having captured the imagination with his breakthrough under Klopp in 2022/23, that early workload has taken its toll and he has played just three times for Liverpool in three years since tearing his adductor in March 2023.
Calf, back and hamstring issues have plagued Bajcetic in that time away and it has often been the case that, just as a comeback seemed on the horizon, the pain returned and his programme needed to be scaled back.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Wednesday, April 10, 2024: Liverpool's Stefan Bajcetic during a training session at the AXA Training Centre ahead of the UEFA Europa League Quarter-Final 1st Leg match between Liverpool FC and BC Atalanta. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
“He constantly gets close to the team and then he has a little setback, then he gets close to the team and has a little setback,” Arne Slot told reporters in January, in a rare update on a player who is yet to be available in his time in charge.
“We’re hoping and expecting to have him very soon again, but in that moment of time he trains with us again then he’s been out for six, seven, eight months with no first-team training.
“So as much as I would like to have him back, we have to manage the expectations with him as well.”
That is now the crux of the issue for Bajcetic: if and when he does make his return to team training, it will be a long road ahead before he is considered fully fit.
Stefan Bajcetic: Last 5 Liverpool Appearances
Vs. Start/Sub Date Days Between
Man United (H) Sub Mar 5, 2023 —
Bournemouth (A) Start Mar 11, 2023 6
LASK (A) Start Sep 21, 2023 194
Leicester (H) Sub Sep 27, 2023 6
Tottenham (H) Sub May 5, 2024 221
Days Since Last App
May 5, 2024 — May 5, 2026730 Days
* Senior Liverpool first-team fixtures only.
His is a reality which has informed Liverpool’s cautious approach to Rio Ngumoha, among other prodigious talents, despite growing calls from the outside to throw the 17-year-old winger in as a regular starter.
Bajcetic is not alone; in fact, he has a kindred spirit of sorts in Jayden Danns, whose own injury issues have blighted his progress since those first shoots of promise back in 2024.
For the Vigo native, there is now more of a sense of urgency, however.
Unlike Danns, Bajcetic does not have the assurance of a long-term contract. The midfielder is set to enter the final year of his deal this summer and there is no indication he will be offered an extension.
What next for Bajcetic?
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, August 19, 2023: Liverpool's Stefan Bajcetic warms-up during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and AFC Bournemouth at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
With no shortage of suitors in recent years – including last summer when Valencia, Real Betis, Girona and Rayo Vallecano were all credited with an interest – it is unlikely he would face career oblivion if his terms did expire.
But there remains the priority of his fitness, along with a case of ‘what could have been’ when it comes to his time at Liverpool.
Having joined as a gangly, 16-year-old centre-back hours before post-Brexit rules over foreign youth signings were introduced in 2020, Bajcetic’s conversion to an all-action midfielder was an inspired one.
A run of 19 appearances in his first campaign in the senior setup, with seven consecutive starts including against Everton and Real Madrid, presented him as an immediate solution for Klopp.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Tuesday, February 21, 2023: Liverpool's Stefan Bajcetic during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 1st Leg game between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
If he had been able to follow that trajectory there is little doubt that he would now be a first-choice starter in the No. 6 role, and his value would have increased this summer as, having now turned 21, he will be homegrown-eligible.
That status may well keep him at Anfield yet, with Liverpool increasingly short of homegrown players as they enter a summer in which Joe Gomez, Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott could all feasibly leave.
But two years since he last graced the pitch for the first team, there will be more challenges still to come for Bajcetic as he aims to make a long-awaited, and much-desired, comeback.