A former PNE manager has spoken highly of the Reds’ player.
Reports have linked Preston North End with Liverpool midfielder Stefan Bajcetic over the weekend.
Stefan Bajcetic has been linked with Preston North End. (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)placeholder image
Stefan Bajcetic has been linked with Preston North End. (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images) | Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Three other Championship clubs - Blackburn Rovers, Middlesbrough and Stoke City - are also said to be monitoring Bajcetic, who has made 22 first-team appearances for Liverpool, scoring one goal; it came in December 2022, making him Liverpool’s third-youngest Premier League goalscorer at just over 18 years and two months old.
He tore his adductor in March 2023 and has only played for Liverpool three times since his recovery. He went out on loan to RB Salzburg and then Las Palmas in the 2024/25 campaign, after which he has suffered a number of setbacks following hamstring surgery and did not play in any capacity last season.
Before that move to Salzburg in August 2024, world-renowned football journalist Fabrizio Romano had reported that Barcelona had made a loan bid for him, but the Austrian club won the race for his signature.
Bajcetic reportedly remains highly thought of at Anfield and it is hoped that a loan move in the Championship could restart his career. Liverpool fans have anxiously awaited news on his progress during his recovery period - they once voted him Player of the Month during his breakout season.
Earlier this month, Bajcetic took to his Instagram page, posting several photos of him training solo at Liverpool’s AXA Training Centre, with the caption ‘Back on track’.
What a former PNE manager makes of Bajcetic
Former Preston North End boss and Liverpool fan Ryan Lowe has spoken highly of the 21-year-old in the past.
Lowe appeared on the Football Daily podcast in January 2023 and, when reacting to Bajcetic’s performance for Liverpool in a win over Wolves, he said: “I'm not going to tell you (what stands out about him) because I wouldn't mind taking him on loan next season, so, I'm going to keep it on the Q-T!
“But you know what I like about him, as a midfielder he doesn't get himself tagged with anyone. You look at the players in the Premier League, they are bigger and stronger physical presences, but he doesn't get himself tagged with it.
“His awareness when the ball comes to him, I always say to my midfielders to always check your shoulder and be scanning. He knows the pass before it comes to him and he's playing with one of the best midfielders in the world in Thiago.
“He's getting that experience but I just thought his passages of play, the way he moved the ball on the front foot at times, interceptions - I thought the kid was fantastic and he's got a bright, bright future at Liverpool."
The case for signing Bajcetic
It would be understandable for there to be concern over his injury record at such a young age, but the addition of a well-regarded and popular player on Liverpool’s books is rarely something to turn your nose up at.
While it’s not been widely reported that Bajcetic will leave - let alone for a Championship side - he would undoubtedly be a coup for any second-tier outfit, should new manager Andoni Iraola allow him to play football elsewhere.
He did not look out of place when he was playing semi-regularly under Jurgen Klopp. He was often selected in line-ups ahead of the likes of James Milner and Naby Keita, rather than as a forced inclusion through their absence. Klopp said that he was ‘a top boy, really smart and calm’ in early 2023, adding ‘he is a joy to work with’. High praise indeed from an elite manager.
Recent seasons prove that PNE can be trusted as a club who offer players, both young and experienced, an environment in which they can rediscover their form and further develop as a player. Whether it’s Bajcetic or other prospective loanees North End set out their stall to this summer, you would hope Paul Heckingbottom’s side would be high up on their wish list every time.
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