Stefan Bajcetic is among numerous players currently out on loan from Liverpool, with the young midfielder spending the season at Red Bull Salzburg.
The Spaniard made the move to Austria at the end of last summer’s transfer window, linking up with former Reds assistant manager Pep Lijnders, although the latter has since been sacked as head coach in Wals-Siezenheim.
The 20-year-old had reportedly been sought by Real Betis as an option for a January move, but he now looks set to remain at the Red Bull Arena, as per his parent club’s original plan.
Liverpool happy with Bajcetic’s loan spell so far
According to The Athletic, Liverpool don’t intend to recall Bajcetic from his loan in Salzburg despite the rumoured interest from Spain and the sacking of Lijnders last month.
The Anfield hierarchy are pleased with the amount of game-time he’s received thus far, with 890 minutes viewed as sensible management of his workload after missing almost the entirety of last season due to injury problems.
Although the midfielder hasn’t been a regular starter in a team who’ve been floundering domestically and are already out of the Champions League, LFC view his loan spell in Austria as ‘very positive so far’, with Red Bull chiefs particularly impressed with his passing data.
The report adds that Bajcetic ‘is in good spirits’ after Salzburg’s winter training camp in Portugal and is set to return to Liverpool in the summer with a view to forcing away into Arne Slot’s plans for next season.
Bajcetic seems to be making progress despite Salzburg’s rough season
From the outside looking in, it hasn’t seemed as though the 20-year-old’s loan move to the Austrian giants had been going all that smoothly.
Only once has he played a full 90-minute match (in early October), while he was reduced to the role of unused substitute as he watched his Salzburg teammates succumb to a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Real Madrid last night, the latest gut punch in a wretched Champions League campaign for the Red Bull-owned outfit.
Austrian sports writer Michael Unverdorben claimed that the youngster had been ‘infected by the general lethargy in the club’ and was having ‘a difficult time’, while he was hit with a €500 (£423) fine in October after being late to training (The Athletic).
Despite all that, it appears that Liverpool are pleased with how Bajcetic’s loan spell has been progressing overall. The Spaniard mightn’t be starting all that often for Thomas Letsch’s side, but he’s still getting more game-time than what he’d have had if he remained at Anfield this season.
Hopefully the 20-year-old will enjoy a positive second half of the campaign on a personal and collective level, and that he’ll return to Merseyside in the summer primed to nail down a place in Slot’s squad in L4.
