One Liverpool player who would’ve been aiming to impress Arne Slot in pre-season is now at risk of seeing those plans go up in smoke.
In just four weeks’ time, the Reds will reconvene at the AXA Training Centre to begin preparations for the 2025/26 campaign, with their first friendly of the summer pencilled in for 13 July away to Preston.
Unfortunately, one talented youngster is now in a race against time to be involved for the Premier League champions before they begin the defence of their top-flight title.
Bajcetic could miss Liverpool’s pre-season after hamstring surgery
As per Liverpool Echo, Stefan Bajcetic is in danger of missing out on LFC’s pre-season programme after undergoing surgery on a hamstring injury that he incurred last month towards the end of his loan spell at Las Palmas.
As Lewis Steele hinted in May, Slot is willing to give the midfielder a chance to impress in the Reds’ friendlies prior to the Community Shield against Crystal Palace in two months’ time, but the 20-year-old is now up against the clock to play any part before then.
He’s already been forced to miss out on the Spain squad for the European Under-21 Championships, which begin later this week.
Hopefully Bajcetic will feature for Liverpool at some stage this summer
Bajcetic is a fantastically talented young footballer who unfortunately cannot seem to catch a break, either on an individual or a team level.
An adductor injury interruped his progress after breaking into the Liverpool side during the 2022/23 campaign and he played just twice in the subsequent 14 months before featuring under Slot in pre-season last summer (Liverpool Echo).
A subsequent loan spell at Red Bull Salzburg was cut short after the prompt dismissal of Pep Lijnders as head coach, and while the midfielder soon joined Las Palmas and was praised for his performances with the Canary Islands club, he was unable to prevent them from LaLiga relegation.
Bajcetic would’ve been eyeing pre-season as his big chance to break into Slot’s first-team squad at Anfield for 2025/26, and while that boat mightn’t have left the harbour just yet, his operation leaves him fighting the clock to make the plane for the tour to the Far East in late July.
Fingers crossed that he’ll make a swift recovery and might have some part to play for Liverpool before the Premier League campaign begins in mid-August. The Spaniard is long overdue a break of fortune in his favour after such a frustrating couple of years.
