BREAKING NEWS: Liverpool confirm signing of Serbian Marko Grujic
Published:
Matt Haynes | January 6, 2016
Liverpool, 5/4 joint-favourites with Coral to win the Capital One Cup, have signed Serbian midfielder Marko Grujic, after the 19-year-old passed a medical with the Merseyside club.
Loaned back to Red Star
The player, though, will be loaned back to Red Star Belgrade for the remainder of the season, before joining up with his new teammates at the start of pre-season.
Grujic joins #LFC from Red Star Belgrade, where he will immediately return on loan until the end of the season. pic.twitter.com/FXYChH0Rx0
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 6, 2016
Grujic had been targeted by a number of clubs including Chelsea and Inter Milan, though Jurgen Klopp intervened personally to persuade the teenager to sign for the Reds. Liverpool will pay £5.1m for the player’s services and is the Reds first signing of the January transfer window.
“I’m very excited and so proud to be here and a member of Liverpool Football Club,” Grujic told their official site. “I can’t wait to get started, play at Anfield and train at Melwood.
“I was thinking about my progress in my next period and decided it was good for me to come here and try to be the best I can. I want to play in front of one of the loudest set of fans in Europe at Anfield.
“I also like the atmospheres at other stadiums, the crowds are very good. I like to play under pressure and that’s why I’ve come here – because it brings out the best in me.”
First of a few for Klopp?
While this is new manager Klopp’s first official signing in charge of the Reds, there is speculation that others may follow, though whether they will be similar deals to Grujic’s remains to be seen, with Schalke centre back Joel Matip linked, with his contract expiring in the summer.
“We’re very pleased because Marko is a big talent and we’ve seen him a lot of times,” Klopp said of Grujic. “When I came here, our scouts showed me some footage of a very skilled player from Red Star Belgrade.
“We watched it, we spoke to him, we met each other – he’s a good boy, a young boy but plays an important role at the moment at Red Star, who are the best team in Serbia.
“To describe him, I would say he’s a tall boy, but quick and good at technical things. He can play passes and can dribble. But he is young, so he has to develop. He will do this, so everything is okay.”
In the next few days there may well be more movement at Anfield, though it is yet unclear whether these will be departures or arrivals.
